The Value of The Search Request Form in The Negotiation Process Between Requester and Librarian
type: CreativeWork
description: 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.
abstract: 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.
author: Fitzgerald, Evelyn Laverne Curry
language: eng
keywords: Library Science
date published: 2014-12-13T17:49:16Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:55Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/66365