A STUDY OF USER INTERACTION WITH INFORMATION-RETRIEVAL INTERFACES - PROGRESS REPORT

This paper reports progress to date and future plans for a project whose major objective is to study the interactions of users with information retrieval interfaces. Tests are being run with professional database searchers and with end users who are members of a profession but have little or no searching experience. Interfaces tested include a command language search system used to search DIALOG bibliographic databases, a non-procedural system that produces DIALOG commands, and several full-text systems, including one using hypertext. The intent is to determine which kinds of users perform best with each type of interface. The project is being conducted jointly by the University of Toronto and the University of Maryland.