The Effects of Different Data Base Formats on Information Retrieval

Abstract

This research examined the effects of three different data base formats on the information retrieval performance of users. Spatial, tabular, and verbal forms of two data base domains (airline and thesaurus) were constructed, along with questions that required users to search through the data base to determine the correct response. Three types of questions were designed — spatial, tabular, and verbal. The data indicate that users are faster and more accurate in responding to the questions when the format of the information in the data base matches the type of information needed to answer the question. While the importance of matching data base format to query type may seem to be obvious, it would appear that the designers of most current data base systems have not taken this into account.