Content area
Full Text
Introduction
The world wide web (hereafter the web) is used by a huge range of people for a wide variety of purposes, every day. They each use it differently, have different perceptions of its nature, and achieve different outcomes to their searches. By categorizing the reasons for users' interactions with the web, and by identifying common patterns, we can gain a more realistic understanding of those interactions.
Web-searching is a process in which end-users interact with web-based search tools to achieve a goal. Whatever their motivation might be for carrying out a search, the following criteria are essential, in order for the search to be considered a success: the required information must exist on the web; the search tool used must be able to locate it; and the user must employ the search tool appropriately. If all these elements are in place, the search will be easy and straightforward. If any one of them is not, the user is unable to locate what s/he is looking for.
The study presented here, which forms part of a wider research of web-based information-seeking behaviour ([4] Ford and Mansourian, 2006; [18], [19] Mansourian and Ford, 2007a, b), explored the interaction of end-users with web-based search tools, and attempted to identify some common patterns.
Related literature
Studies of information seeking have a relatively short history, but have covered many aspects of user interactions with the web. There remain, however, several unexplored questions, providing researchers with fertile grounds for future studies. The specific characteristics of the search context on the web make it significantly different from pre-web search systems. [16] Mansourian (2004) reviewed these differences and concluded that there are four main ways in which the web differs from earlier online search environments. These are:
the tremendous growth of electronic information in a heterogeneous and unstructured environment;
a tendency to focus on technical aspects of the web, without contextualizing them by including an equal emphasis on human computer interactions;
the rapid increase in the number of end-users in general and inexperienced users in particular; and
the lack of sufficient knowledge about users' characteristics and their needs.
However, as research leads to an increasing number of publications our understanding of web searching is growing. Recent review publications provide a general...