The effects of search environment and task realism on search behavior

This paper presents a study which compared user search behavior across an open search environment (the World Wide Web) and a closed search environment (an on-line library card catalog). Users performed a structured search task, where they were given topics to search for, and a self-directed search task, where they could choose their own topics. Search tasks were defined based on a qualitative, three-stage model of search behavior. Results showed that overall, search behavior tended to be very similar across search environments, indicating that empirical results and models of search behavior could generalize across these two environments. Differences were due primarily to characteristics of the particular search environments chosen (e.g., the Internet vs. a library catalog) and the searching mechanisms and interfaces available for searching these environments. Additionally, behavior was also similar across the structured, vs. self defined search tasks, suggesting that aspects of search engines and user search behavior can be tested in a controlled setting and that the results can be applied to less controlled, more natural search tasks.