Elicitation purposes and tasks during mediated information search

This paper provides an empirical characterization of elicitation purposes related to search tasks during mediated information retrieval. During retrieval, a human search intermediary consults with an information seeker about their information problem, and then conducts a search on the elicited topic, both elicit information from each other during the mediated search process. Elicitations during 30 mediated IR searches were examined. A total of 1,241 search intermediary elicitations within 17 IR elicitation categories and 485 information seeker elicitations within ten IR elicitations categories were identified. The paper provides an enhanced IR task model, including sub tasks, derived from our empirical findings. The implications of the findings are discussed. Introduction People access information retrieval (IR) systems and Web search engines to find information to solve their information problems. Researchers are currently attempting to identify the tasks and behaviors associated with completing an IR interaction (Bhavnani et al., 2001; Spink et al., 1998; Vakkari, 2001). Such user modeling research is of growing importance to the development of more effective IR systems and information services. Elicitations or requests for information by an information seeker and search intermediary during their conversation associated with a mediated IR search are an important element within a dialogue based approach to modeling information seeker – IR system interactions. The study reported in this paper focuses on the elicitations purposes by both search intermediaries and information seekers before and during a complex mediated interaction with the DIALOG online database service. Elicitations are a significant part of human communication in general and form an important component of a task model of IR, and the potential functioning of intelligent interfaces or software agents assisting users with IR tasks and building interactive processes the way humans conduct them. Despite the often short length of Web searches (Spink et al., 2002b), examining the complex process of mediated IR provides a greater understanding and categorization of elicitation purposes useful for developing a better understanding of IR tasks, such as Web search. The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm Elicitation purposes and tasks