The Value of The Search Request Form in The Negotiation Process Between Requester and Librarian
The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the search request form in the negotiation process between requester and librarian in the online setting. The formal hypothesis was: users who complete the search request form before talking to an information specialist will get better results than those who do not complete such a form prior to talking to the information specialist. Two groups represented the interaction sequences below: the first, the experimental group, the second, the control. (a) Requester - Request Statement - Intermediary - Search; (b) Requester - Intermediary - Request Statement - Search. The study hypothesized that the first of the pair produces better results. Two reasons account for the improved results. (a) Writing a statement of information need imposes a discipline on users and helps them to clarify what it is they really want, and (b) In completing a form, before any substantial discussion with the intermediary, users are not constrained or preconditioned by the "system;" they are more likely to ask for what they want rather than what they think the system is able to give them.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign