Searching the web : the public and their queries
Spink, Amanda H., Wolfram, Dietmar, Jansen, Bernard J., & Saracevic, Tefko (2001) Searching the web : the public and their queries. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 52(3), pp. 226-234.
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Abstract
In studying actual Web searching by the public at large, we analyzed over one million Web queries by users of the Excite search engine. We found that most people use few search terms, few modified queries, view few Web pages, and rarely use advanced search features. A small number of search terms are used with high frequency, and a great many terms are unique; the language of Web queries is distinctive. Queries about recreation and entertainment rank highest. Findings are compared to data from two other large studies of Web queries. This study provides an insight into the public practices and choices in Web searching.
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| ID Code: | 5003 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
| Keywords: | information retrieval, World Wide Web, online searching, search terms, query languages, web pages, arch engines |
| DOI: | 10.1002/1097-4571(2000)9999:9999<::AID-ASI1591>3.0.CO;2-R |
| ISSN: | 1532-2890 |
| Subjects: | Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCES (080000) > LIBRARY AND INFORMATION STUDIES (080700) > Information Retrieval and Web Search (080704) |
| Divisions: | Past > QUT Faculties & Divisions > Faculty of Science and Technology Past > Schools > School of Information Systems |
| Copyright Owner: | Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons |
| Copyright Statement: | The definite version is available on publication at www3.interscience.wiley.com |
| Deposited On: | 27 Nov 2006 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Aug 2011 04:23 |
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