Improving Learning Object Schemas and Performance Support Systems through Information Retrieval Evaluation

Introduction This study examines existent and new methods for evaluating the success of information retrieval systems. Performance support systems, knowledge management systems, and meta-data schema such as SCORM, IMS, and IEEE LOM are concerned with finding needed information quickly and effectively, whether that information is a learning object, a performance object, or a knowledge object. However, the literature of instructional design rarely examines search and retrieval. This integral part of these systems, a part that certainly affects usefulness, is overlooked. Even in IS, the theory underlying current methods of evaluation is not robust enough to effectively evaluate the web or the very targeted searches required for effective performance support.