...Maryellen Allen Usability testing of Web interfaces for virtual libraries is a crucial factor in the continuing development and improvement of the user interface. In 1999, the University of South Florida Libraries decided to embark on a usability study to coincide with the rollout of a new...

.... To address most of these problems, an IR system has to have an interface component to assist users with effective searching. “The help mechanism is a key component of an online system” (Xie and Cool, 2000). There exists a standard set of “help” techniques used by traditional IR systems. Among...

... popular and more scientific aspects of the Web, and the search capabilities of the search interfaces. The results of searches show quite homogeneous fluctuations over the whole set of queries. Precision is a well‐known measure of information retrieval systems (Salton, 1989) – it is the percentage...

...Anne L. Barker This paper compares and contrasts online searching on DataStar, a major European host now owned by The Dialog Corporation, using the “Classic” command language, with access via the more recent Web interface. DataStar, established in 1981, was one of the first online hosts to offer...