digital libraries and fiction book search: a study of readers, search behaviors and book selection...
TRANSCRIPT
Digital Libraries and Fiction Book Search: a Study of Readers, Search Behaviors and
Book Selection
Anna Mikkonen
Doctoral Student, University of Tampere
eRemembrance or eOblivion?
23-24 November, 2015
Introduction
• Research interest towards casual-leisure information situations has increased.
• Fiction search is an essential part of casual-leisure search: – It is not triggered by an explicit information need to be solved or a task to be
completed.– It begins often with a serendipitous need to find "just good books to read“.
• Fiction is increasingly searched for and accessed in digital libraries.– Users with varied reading preferences and search competencies.
• Digital libraries have been actively developed and enriched to meet the needs of diverse reader groups.
• Little is known about – Fiction searching in digital libraries.– The actual selection criteria for novels applied by fiction readers in digital libraries.
• An understanding of fiction readers' search behavior in digital libraries is essential
– For evaluating user performance in the fiction search.– For creating functioning interfaces for fiction.
Purpose of the study
• Provide information on
a) How readers search for fiction using an enriched library catalog compared to a traditional library catalog.
b) The search actions that predict the finding of very interesting novels compared to less interesting novels.
c) How fiction readers with varied reading preferences are selecting interesting novels in different search scenarios.
d) Fiction readers’ interest criteria for novels in digital libraries.
A list of dissertation publications.Mikkonen, A. & Vakkari, P.
I•Readers’ Search Strategies for Accessing Books in Public Libraries.•Proceedings of IiIX’12.
II
• Finding Fiction: Search Moves and Success in Two Online Catalogs. • Accepted for publication in LISR 1/16
III
• Books' Interest Grading and Fiction Readers' Search Actions During Query Reformulation Intervals.
• Proceedings of JCDL’15.
IV
•Reader Characteristics, Behavior and Success in Fiction Book Search.•Submitted for review.
V•Readers' Interest Criteria in Fiction Book Search in Digital Libraries.•Submitted for review.
• RQ1. Which are the search moves applied in different types of search scenarios for finding fiction?• RQ2. Are there differences in search moves between different types of catalogs?• RQ3. Are there differences in search moves between different types of search tasks?
II Finding Fiction: Search Moves and Success in Two Online Catalogs
• RQ 1. Do the search actions during successful and unsuccessful QRIs differ• Between an enriched catalog compared to a traditional catalog?• Between browsing tasks?• RQ 2. Are the search actions during QRIs associated to books' interest grading in browsing tasks? If yes, how?
III Books' Interest Grading and Fiction Readers' Search Actions During Query Reformulation Intervals
• RQ 1. Is there an association between reader characteristics and search actions in different search tasks? If yes, how?
• RQ 2. Is there an association between reader characteristics, search actions and search success in different search tasks? If yes, how?
• RQ 3. Is there an association between reader characteristics and the type of queries in different search tasks? If yes, how?
• RQ 4. Which are the typical search tactics applied in fiction searching?
IV Reader Characteristics, Behavior and Success in Fiction Book Search
• RQ1. What kind of interest criteria readers apply in selecting novels in fiction search?• RQ 2. Do the readers’ interest criteria for novels vary between different search scenarios? If yes, how?• RQ 3. Do the applied between a traditional library catalog compared with an enriched library catalog? If yes,
how?• RQ 4. Are there differences in the applied interest criteria between rejected and selected novels?
V Readers' interest criteria in fiction book search in digital libraries
Research questions
Data
• 80 adult participants– 18 % male, 82 % female.– Age distribution 18-78.– Genuine fiction readers.– Recruited in public libraries, in fiction reading groups and in
Finland’s Open University’s writing and literature classes.– The Snowball sampling method and a newspaper advertisement
were used. – Participants were randomized into control and test groups.– Participants’ experience in using online catalogs , reading
activity or reading preferences did not significantly differ between control and test groups.
5 search scenarios
“A friend of yours recommends you to familiarize yourself with the novels of Olli Jalonen. Find Olli Jalonen’s novels and choose two novels which are of interest to you.”
Known author search
“Find three novels about upper class life in the 19th century.”Topical search
“Find three novels that interest you which you would like to read.”
Open ended browsing
“Think of and mention one novel that you have read and found interesting recently. Now search for three similarly interesting novels as the one you mentioned.”
Search by analogy
”Search for three entertaining novels for vacation reading.”Vacation reading
The catalogs used
• A traditional baseline catalog Satakirjastot.• An enriched test catalog BookSampo.• Each participant completed the tasks either on Sata or
Sampo.• The front page of Sampo offers a variety of access
points to the collection:– Basic search, book cover images, other users’ virtual
bookshelves, subject term cloud, book reviews etc.
• Compared to the baseline catalog Sata, Sampo provides fiction metadata that is more varied and accounts for different access points to literature.
Baseline Satakirjastot
Test catalog BookSampo
Mixed method data analysis
Recorded search logs
• Manual coding of variables measuring the search behaviors. • Statistical analysis for analyzing the associations of search
behaviors and search success between search tasks and catalogs.
A pre-questionnaire
• Eliciting common patterns for reading preferences and creating two groups of fiction readers.
• Statistical analysis for comparing the search behaviors and search success between reader groups
Search queries• Qualitative content analysis for categorizing the search queries in
different categories.• Statistical data analysis for comparing the search queries between
the reader groups.
Interviews and conversations
• Qualitative content analysis. • For examining fiction readers' interpretations of the influential
factors in fiction book selection.
Major findings
• Search success was equal in both catalogs.• Significant differences were found in search behaviors between catalogs. • More effort was required in a traditional catalog Sata to reach equivalent search
success than in an enriched catalog Sampo.
• In Sata, a typical search strategy for interesting titles was to issue queries carefully and devote more attention to search results instead of book pages.
• In Sata an unsuccessful search pattern was detected– At the beginning of each task searchers tended to end up going in circles,– Much time was devoted to selecting suitable entry terms together with a
quick glance over the results before issuing a subsequent query. – When glancing at the results, they were noticed unsatisfactory, book pages
were not entered and no book selections were made.
• In Sampo, time devoted to exploring catalog's multiple entry points together with attention to the enriched result list was a common and successful search approach.
Major findings
• Browsing task type was associated to readers' document viewing behavior.
• Browsing for topical novels resembled the retrieving of topically relevant non-fiction documents. – The association of dwell time on book pages and document value was
found to be non-linear• Most effort was required to select somewhat interesting novels.
• When browsing for good books, the association of dwell time on book pages and document value was found to be linear– Most effort in terms of dwell time was required to assess the most
interesting cases.
If dwell time on book pages is considered as relevance feedback, it should be interpreted with understanding of the search situation, especially the task type.
Major findings
• Two fiction reader groups were elicited– The entertained and the aesthetic-utilitarian readers.
• Different preference patterns for fiction books were associated to readers' search behavior.
• Four search tactics for fiction books in digital libraries were presented
1. Focused querying
2. Thematic browsing
3. Similarity based querying
4. Similarity based browsing by proxy. • The search scenario determined the use of the identified search
tactics.• Depending on the system used, the emphasis in identifying
interesting titles was on either searchers' literary knowledge or the system's support.
Major findings
• A categorization of interest criteria for novels was elicited.– Familiarity, Bibliographic information, Content, Engagement, Sociocultural.
• Readers’ prior literary knowledge and novel’s title had a major role in book selection.
• Book selection in digital libraries was found to be highly a context related process,– A combination of readers’ search capacities, “behind the eyes” knowledge, personal
and affective factors and a well-functioning interaction with a system being used resulted in a successful book selection.
• The rejection of a novel turned out to be a quick and simple process where a single metadata element determined a book to be rejected.
• Readers applied the identified interest criteria in a flexible and multiphase way depending on the search task and phase.
• Depending on the catalog used, the emphasis on selecting interesting titles was on – Searchers' literary knowledge and bibliographic information.– Content description and engagement in reading.
Conclusions
• The study demonstrated the basic characteristics of fiction book search in various search scenarios in digital libraries.
• The study revealed that fiction readers' search behaviors in a traditional catalog and an enriched catalog differ but may result in equal success.
• Providing multiple appealing entry points for fiction collections together with an enriched result list may result in successful, serendipitous discoveries.
• Visual and social navigational tools may trigger ideas for the search, and consequently support the discovering of interesting novels.
Conclusions
• A profound understanding of readers' book selection behavior in digital libraries is vital as fiction is increasingly accessed in digital libraries.
• Designing well-functioning and user-friendly interfaces for fiction readers with varied search skills and literary interests requires both in-depth qualitative and large scale evaluative user studies.
• The results of this study – Give a good starting point for further examination of user
behavior in digital libraries– Are a significant step toward a comprehensive understanding of
readers’ book search and selection behaviors in digital environments.
• Thank you for your interest.• Questions and comments are very welcome!
• A special thanks to my supervisor professor Pertti Vakkari, professor Eero Sormunen, Memornet coordinator Samuel Ranta, the members of research group FIRE and the students of Memornet for your valuable feedpack!