Examines and compares multimedia Web searching by Excite and FAST search engine users in 2001. Highlights include audio and video queries; time spent on searches; terms per query; ranking of the most frequently used terms; and differences in Web search behaviors of U.S. and European Web users. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of electronic information products for the humanities focuses on users in Italy. Databases are discussed; a user survey of La Sapienza University Arts Faculty is described; an example of research using two databases, FRANCIS and Philosopher's Index, is given; and Italian products and projects for the humanities are reviewed. (15…

Discusses an effort to critically evaluate research relevant to the education of children under five. The effort involved a report on the implications of the research for policy, practice, and further research. (Author/BB)

Discussion of online public access catalogs focuses on a study that evaluated 3 different systems in Great Britain. Comparative evaluations were made using structured exercises to determine searching techniques and transaction logs to investigate user behavior. Comments on future research are also given. (12 references) (LRW)

Examines the publications, documents, and other materials relating to peacekeeping in Cambodia. Focuses on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia as a part in the development of the United Nations peacekeeping missions. Evaluates sources concerning operations within Cambodia. Identifies resources of international government…

Discusses the history and structure of the online database of the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the software tools developed at the University of Waterloo to manipulate the unusually complex database. Four sample searches that indicate some types of problems that might be encountered are appended. (DB)

Presents a comparison of collocation-based similarity measures for the proper selection of additional search terms in query expansion. Highlights include evaluating retrieval effectiveness in a vector space model, thesauri, document ranking, and experiments on two Korean test collections. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study conducted in the Netherlands that examined the effect of a user's World Wide Web experience on the search process, which consists of locating an appropriate Web site and retrieving relevant information from that site. Discusses implications for training and supporting student searchers and proposes future research. (Author/LRW)

Provides preliminary results from a study of mediated information retrieval at the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) based on data from 121 information seekers who requested mediated searches. Focuses on results related to the relationship between participants' gender, cognitive styles, and information seeking behaviors. (Contains 21…

This study investigated the effects of interaction devices on the Internet performance of novice older users, and ways to provide appropriate voice assistance to enhance browsing and searching performance of such users. Three experiments were designed and conducted to test three hypotheses. The results indicated that touch screen and handwriting…

We live at a time when the Internet is used increasingly for communication, for information, and for the exchange of goods and services. Questions arise about how people with learning disabilities make use of this new technology. In this article, Bjorn Harrysson, with two of his colleagues, A. Svensk and G. I. Johansson, from the Department of…

This paper reports the results of two empirical studies which explored the information seeking behaviour of engineering and law students in Ireland. Findings reveal similar patterns in the information seeking behaviour between students studying to become professionals and information seeking patterns of these groups identified in the Leckie et al.…

During the five years of activities the documentation centre at the Royal Institute of Technology has established itself as an information centre in the fields of science and technology. The SDI service is now well implemented and its activities are used and appreciated by scientists, research workers and engineers at the universities, research…

Outlines implementation and uses of the computerized question-banking system of the thesaurus-linked browse procedure used by APU National Assessment in Science Programme. The ROOT Thesaurus, a comprehensive indexing and searching tool for technological applications, is described and its modifications are discussed as the basis for the…

This report considers the effects of new technology (online search services) on user access to information; the role of libraries in providing such access; the structure of a future national information network in the United Kingdom; and general managerial considerations. Seventeen references are cited. (EJS)