Pertti Vakkari
Tampere University, School of Information Sciences, Faculty Member
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate fiction readers’ interest criteria when selecting novels in library catalogs for various search tasks. Design/methodology/approach – The data of the book selection behavior from 80... more
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate fiction readers’ interest criteria when selecting novels in library catalogs for various search tasks. Design/methodology/approach – The data of the book selection behavior from 80 genuine fiction readers were collected using recorded interviews and conversations. The data were qualitatively analyzed. Reuter’s categorization of the components of aesthetic relevance has contributed to the construction of interest dimensions. Findings – A five-dimension categorization of interest criteria is presented based on fiction readers’ interpretations of the influential factors in fiction book selection in different search tasks. The findings revealed that readers apply the identified interest criteria in a flexible and multiphase way depending to the search task and the system used. The findings showed a context-related pattern in readers’ fiction book selections. A combination of readers’ search capacities, “behind the eyes” knowledge, affective factors and a well-functioning interaction with a system used results in a successful book selection. Originality/value – A five-dimension categorization of adult fiction readers’ interest criteria was created based on their search behaviors in library catalogs. The results provide a systematic step toward a comprehensive understanding of readers’ fiction book selection in digital environments.
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The paper reports a longitudinal analysis of the topical and methodological development of Library and Information Science (LIS). Its focus is on the effects of researchers' disciplines on these developments. The study extends an... more
The paper reports a longitudinal analysis of the topical and methodological development of Library and Information Science (LIS). Its focus is on the effects of researchers' disciplines on these developments. The study extends an earlier cross‐sectional study (Vakkari et al., Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2022a, 73, 1706–1722) by a coordinated dataset representing a content analysis of articles published in 31 scholarly LIS journals in 1995, 2005, and 2015. It is novel in its coverage of authors' disciplines, topical and methodological aspects in a coordinated dataset spanning two decades thus allowing trend analysis. The findings include a shrinking trend in the share of LIS from 67 to 36% while Computer Science, and Business and Economics increase their share from 9 and 6% to 21 and 16%, respectively. The earlier cross‐sectional study (Vakkari et al., Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2022a, 73, 1706–1722) for the year 2015 identified three topical clusters of LIS research, focusing on topical subfields, methodologies, and contributing disciplines. Correspondence analysis confirms their existence already in 1995 and traces their development through the decades. The contributing disciplines infuse their concepts, research questions, and approaches to LIS and may also subsume vital parts of LIS in their own structures of knowledge production.
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... All rights reserved. Task complexity, problem structure and information actions Integrating studies on information seeking and retrieval. ...
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Information Retrieval (IR) is a research area both within Computer Science and Information Science. It has by and large two communities: a Computer Science oriented experimental approach and a user-oriented Information Science approach... more
Information Retrieval (IR) is a research area both within Computer Science and Information Science. It has by and large two communities: a Computer Science oriented experimental approach and a user-oriented Information Science approach with a Social Science background. The communities hold a critical stance towards each other (e.g., Ingwersen, 1996), the latter suspecting the realism of the former, and the former suspecting the usefulness of the latter. Within Information Science the study of information seeking (IS) also has a Social Science background. There is a lot of research in each of these particular areas of information seeking and retrieval (IS&R). However, the three communities do not really communicate with each other. Why is this, and could the relationships be otherwise? Do the communities in fact belong together? Or perhaps each community is better off forgetting about the existence of the other two? We feel that the relationships between the research areas have not been properly analyzed. One way to analyze the relationships is to examine what each research area is trying to find out: which phenomena are being explained and how. We believe that IS&R research would benefit from being analytic about its frameworks, models and theories, not just at the level of meta-theories, but also much more concretely at the level of study designs. Over the years there have been calls for more context in the study of IS&R. Work tasks as well as cultural activities/interests have been proposed as the proper context for information access. For example, Wersig (1973) conceptualized information needs from the tasks perspective. He argued that in order to learn about information needs and seeking, one needs to take into account the whole active professional role of the individuals being investigated. Bystrom and Jarvelin (1995) analysed IS processes in the light of tasks of varying complexity. Ingwersen (1996) discussed the role of tasks and their descriptions and problematic situations from a cognitive perspective on IR. Most recently, Vakkari (2003) reviewed task-based IR and Jarvelin and Ingwersen (2004) proposed the extension of IS&R research toward the task context. Therefore there is much support to the task context, but how should it be applied in IS&R? Aims and Focus. The present chapter therefore focuses on the following two questions:
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The study analyses contributions to Library and Information Science (LIS) by researchers representing various disciplines. How are such contributions associated with the choice of research topics and methodology? The study employs a... more
The study analyses contributions to Library and Information Science (LIS) by researchers representing various disciplines. How are such contributions associated with the choice of research topics and methodology? The study employs a quantitative content analysis of articles published in 31 scholarly LIS journals in 2015. Each article is seen as a contribution to LIS by the authors' disciplines, which are inferred from their affiliations. The unit of analysis is the article‐discipline pair. Of the contribution instances, the share of LIS is one third. Computer Science contributes one fifth and Business and Economics one sixth. The latter disciplines dominate the contributions in information retrieval, information seeking, and scientific communication indicating strong influences in LIS. Correspondence analysis reveals three clusters of research, one focusing on traditional LIS with contributions from LIS and Humanities and survey‐type research; another on information retrieval with contributions from Computer Science and experimental research; and the third on scientific communication with contributions from Natural Sciences and Medicine and citation analytic research. The strong differentiation of scholarly contributions in LIS hints to the fragmentation of LIS as a discipline.
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La prise en compte de la tâche en vue de laquelle une recherche d'information a ete entreprise est necessaire a une meilleure comprehension du processus de recherche et, par extension, a l'amelioration de la conception de... more
La prise en compte de la tâche en vue de laquelle une recherche d'information a ete entreprise est necessaire a une meilleure comprehension du processus de recherche et, par extension, a l'amelioration de la conception de systemes. L'A. passe en revue les etudes portant sur les relations entre la performance de tâche et le processus de recherche, notamment dans l'environnement electronique. La litterature sur la recherche d'information presente differentes conceptions de la tâche, telle que l'analyse de tâche, et differents types d'objectifs de recherche. La modelisation du processus de recherche doit prendre en compte ces tâches et les caracteristiques du systeme. Il existe differents modeles et theories reliant les caracteristiques des tâches et la recherche d'information, - ASK (Anomalous State of Knowledge), analyse cognitive du travail, modele de Kulthau, theorie cognitive, modele comportemental d'Ellis ou encore modele berry-picking (cueillette de fruits) de Bates. L'A. rapporte egalement les resultats d'etudes empiriques portant sur les relations entre performance de tâche et divers aspects de la recherche d'information (utilisation des sources, besoin d'information, tactique de recherche). Intervient egalement l'evaluation par l'utilisateur de la pertinence et de l'utilite de l'information obtenue par rapport a la tâche a accomplir. Enfin, l'A. s'interesse aux outils facilitant le processus de recherche, tels que l'elargissement de la question.
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We describe information production and use in a client information system (CIS) by social workers in child protection. Data consists of interviews and observations with think aloud material. Information production and use are embedded... more
We describe information production and use in a client information system (CIS) by social workers in child protection. Data consists of interviews and observations with think aloud material. Information production and use are embedded with other work tasks and go throughout the whole client process. CIS does not support social workers' tasks sufficiently. Our findings imply recommendations for developing CIS
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A museum's digital archive system gathers information about cultural heritage and makes it accessible to the public. In this study we clarify the extent to which search behaviors reflect task outcome and foster users’ knowledge of... more
A museum's digital archive system gathers information about cultural heritage and makes it accessible to the public. In this study we clarify the extent to which search behaviors reflect task outcome and foster users’ knowledge of painting and calligraphy. Ten users participated who are special interest museum visitors. They joined in this evaluation of the Digital Archives of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Search System (DA‐PCSS) of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Participants’ search activities and interactions with the DA‐PCSS were recorded in two simulated tasks. The results show that the high‐performance (HP) group who received high scores for their essays on the tasks formulated precise and relevant queries. Furthermore, the HP group were able to find information needed inside or outside the system to explore and synthesize the information, which was clearly reflected in their search move patterns, during the search process. Our results suggest that the criteria for learning at various stages of search suggested by Vakkari (2016) seem to validly reflect the quality of the search outcomes. In all, the results elucidate how the evaluated system supports users as they search for target items, as well as how learning occurs during the search process and in turn influences task outcomes.
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ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to explore how, why and what type of information social workers filter out from case records in child protection. Recording is understood as a process of four partially overlapping phases: encountering... more
ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to explore how, why and what type of information social workers filter out from case records in child protection. Recording is understood as a process of four partially overlapping phases: encountering with the stakeholders, making notes, recording by a client information system and reading the case records. The data consist of social workers' and social work managers' interviews and social workers' observation and verbal accounts in natural work settings. The findings show that information was filtered out in each phase. The intentional reasons were often shaped by social context and norms. The unintentional reasons, instead, were often related to everyday realities at work. In the records, the information filtering manifested in wording the text, regulating the amount of details and, in some cases, omitting certain topics fully. The information gaps generated by filtering were faced and interpreted when the records were read. The role of the information system in reducing client information was minor compared to human actors.
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ABSTRACT The article focuses on the social workers’ workarounds aka their own alternative strategies for defeating the various types of obstacles in information interaction in a client information system (CIS). Data consists of... more
ABSTRACT The article focuses on the social workers’ workarounds aka their own alternative strategies for defeating the various types of obstacles in information interaction in a client information system (CIS). Data consists of semi-structured interviews and social workers’ observations with their verbal accounts while they used CIS in their daily work. The workarounds were analyzed from the process perspective when antecedent conditions, actual workarounds and their consequences were taken into account. The design flaws and external demands in work generated the workarounds. The social workers used small scale tricks within CIS to maintain continuum in a client’s trajectory; they relied on shadow systems to manage their whole clientele; and took shortcuts in production of statistical information. The workarounds offered a better grip on information and saved time. However, some of the workarounds were tensional in a child protection context. The analysis of workarounds provided valuable secondary design suggestions to remedy CIS.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Computer Science, Information Retrieval, Information Literacy, Documentation, and 13 moreEvidence Based Medicine, Library and Information Studies, Medical Students, Information Search, Design Methodology, Medline, Task Performance, User Study, Recall, Correlation coefficient, Data Consistency, Document Retrieval, and Medical Information System
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People do not search information as such but seek to get a job done or to manage a situation by the help of search results. Therefore, the ultimate goal of information search is to advance task performance. It should be evaluated... more
People do not search information as such but seek to get a job done or to manage a situation by the help of search results. Therefore, the ultimate goal of information search is to advance task performance. It should be evaluated accordingly, i.e. by its contribution to task outcome. This implies an extended notion of search process, which also covers the use of information in search results for task outcome. For measuring the effect of search to task outcome we propose both indirect and direct indicators which measure search success.
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ABSTRACT This study explored how experts and novices in pedagogics expanded queries supported by the ERIC thesaurus, and how this was connected to the search success in an easy and a difficult search task. The expert group consisted of 15... more
ABSTRACT This study explored how experts and novices in pedagogics expanded queries supported by the ERIC thesaurus, and how this was connected to the search success in an easy and a difficult search task. The expert group consisted of 15 undergraduates in pedagogy and the novice group of 15 students with no studies in this field. Their search logs were recorded and a pre- and post-search interview was conducted. The results show that the number and type of terms selected from the thesaurus for expansion by experts improved search effectiveness, whereas there were no connections between the use of thesaurus and improvement of effectiveness among novices. Thus, a vital condition for benefiting a thesaurus in query expansion to improve search results is sufficient familiarity with the search topic. The results suggest also that it is not in the first place the number of terms used in expansion, but their type and quality which is crucial for search success.
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ABSTRACT The role of subject and search knowledge in query expansion (QE) is an unmapped terrain in research on information retrieval. It is likely that both have an impact on the process and outcome of QE. In this paper our aim is an... more
ABSTRACT The role of subject and search knowledge in query expansion (QE) is an unmapped terrain in research on information retrieval. It is likely that both have an impact on the process and outcome of QE. In this paper our aim is an analytical study of the connections between subject and search knowledge and term selection in QE based both on thesaurus and relevance feedback. We will also argue analytically how thesaurus, term suggestion in interactive QE and term extraction in automatic QE support users with differing levels of subject knowledge in their pursuit of search concepts and terms. It is suggested that in QE the initial query concepts representing the information need should not be treated as separate entities, but as conceptually interrelated. These interrelations contribute to the meaning of the conceptual construct, which the query represents, and this should be reflected in the terms identified for QE.
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ABSTRACT We studied how an enriched public library catalogue is used to access novels. 58 users searched for interesting novels to read in a simulated situation where they had only a vague idea of what they would like to read. Data... more
ABSTRACT We studied how an enriched public library catalogue is used to access novels. 58 users searched for interesting novels to read in a simulated situation where they had only a vague idea of what they would like to read. Data consist of search logs, pre and post search questionnaires and observations. Results show, that investing effort on examining results improves search success, i.e. finding interesting novels, whereas effort in querying has no bearing on it. In designing systems for fiction retrieval, enriching result presentation with detailed book information would benefit users.
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It is studied how readers explore metadata in book pages when selecting fiction in a traditional and an enriched online catalog for fiction. The associations between attention devoted to metadata elements and selecting an interesting book... more
It is studied how readers explore metadata in book pages when selecting fiction in a traditional and an enriched online catalog for fiction. The associations between attention devoted to metadata elements and selecting an interesting book were analyzed. Eye movements of 30 users selecting fiction for four search tasks were recorded. The results indicate that although participants paid most attention in book pages to content description and keywords, these had no bearing on selecting an interesting book. Author and title information received less attention, but were significant predictors of selection.
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Research Interests: Information Systems, Computer Science, Information Retrieval, Service Design, Public Libraries, and 15 moreEvaluation, Search Engines, Digital Library, Information Services, Library and Information Studies, Digital reference, Information Transfer, Originality, Search Engine, World Wide Web, Information Service, Question Answering, Online Information, Reference Service, and service Business
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We compared fiction readers' search actions during various query reformulation intervals. We aimed to understand how readers' search actions differed between successful and unsuccessful QRIs and which search actions predicted the... more
We compared fiction readers' search actions during various query reformulation intervals. We aimed to understand how readers' search actions differed between successful and unsuccessful QRIs and which search actions predicted the selecting of very interesting novels compared to less interesting ones. We conducted a controlled user study with 80 participants searching for interesting novels. Three types of browsing tasks and two types of catalogs were used. Our results demonstrated that browsing task type was associated to readers' document viewing behavior in terms of observed search result pages, opened book pages and dwell time on book pages. When browsing for topical novels, most effort was required to select somewhat interesting novels. When browsing for good novels, most effort was required to select very interesting ones. Logistic regression analysis yielded that the most significant predictors of higher document value were the number of observed search result pages and opened book pages.
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The aim of this study is to compare (1) the semantic structures in lay persons’ questions addressed to ask-anexpert service in the fields of health, nutrition and social services, and (2) to which extent lay persons’ vocabularies are... more
The aim of this study is to compare (1) the semantic structures in lay persons’ questions addressed to ask-anexpert service in the fields of health, nutrition and social services, and (2) to which extent lay persons’ vocabularies are covered by a general thesaurus and a specific thesaurus in each of these fields. As representation of information needs 50 questions were selected concerning both health and nutrition, and 163 concerning social services. The concepts and their expressions in the questions were identified, and their semantic relations were observed and classified into equivalence, hierarchical and associative relations. The semantic structure of questions varied somewhat between the fields observed. Lay persons’ expressions were covered most extensively in health, and least extensively in social services. Specific thesaurus covered more extensively expressions in health (65%) than general thesaurus (42%), whereas in nutrition there was no difference (33% vs. 32%), and in...
Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify prominent patterns of media use across six media (e.g. television, social media, public libraries) and four gratification contexts (e.g. studying, leisure activities), and... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify prominent patterns of media use across six media (e.g. television, social media, public libraries) and four gratification contexts (e.g. studying, leisure activities), and second, to investigate whether media use patterns vary with six individual characteristics by introducing the construct of information repertoire. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through an online questionnaire completed by 811 adult internet users in the USA. Latent class analysis (LCA), including latent class regression, was performed to analyse the data. Findings The study found eight information repertoire profiles. The user characteristics associated with each profile, such as age, race and ethnicity, were identified. The profile with the most respondents was characterised by heavy use of TV and the internet for everyday leisure activities. Overall, the eight profiles do not show exclusive use of one or two media (such as a power...
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The objective of this study is to analyse how changes in users' problem stages during task performance are related to changes in search tactics and term choice. It is analysed how students' growing understanding of the topic is... more
The objective of this study is to analyse how changes in users' problem stages during task performance are related to changes in search tactics and term choice. It is analysed how students' growing understanding of the topic is related to their choice of search tactics and terms during accomplishing a research proposal for a master's theses. The participants of the study were 11 students who attended a seminar during which they were to prepare a research proposal. They made a search in LISA data-base in the beginning, middle and end of the seminar. Data for describing their understanding of the work task, search goals and tactics as well as term choices were collected during the search sessions. A pre- and post-search interview was conducted during each session. The students were asked to think aloud during the search session. The transaction logs were captured and the think alouds were recorded. The results show that the students' problem stages during-the task perf...
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El objetivo de este artículo es la modelización del uso de las bibliotecas públicas comparando los casos de España y Finlandia. Se analiza la relación a nivel de municipios entre una serie de factores tomados como características propias... more
El objetivo de este artículo es la modelización del uso de las bibliotecas públicas comparando los casos de España y Finlandia. Se analiza la relación a nivel de municipios entre una serie de factores tomados como características propias de las bibliotecas (presupuesto, personal, colección, etc.) y el uso de las mismas (préstamos y visitas). En un análisis por regiones, se consideran también variables del contexto socioeconómico (renta, educación, desempleo). El método para la obtención de los modelos es el análisis de regresión lineal múltiple con la técnica paso a paso. En España, los modelos a nivel de municipios explicaron el 16,8% de los préstamos y el 17,7% de las visitas, mientras que en Finlandia explicaron el 23% y el 18% respectivamente. Por tanto, para ambos países más del 75% de la variación de los préstamos y las visitas depende de otros factores no contemplados en los modelos. A nivel de regiones, ninguna de las variables del entorno socioeconómico consideradas como añ...