Users, structured documents and overlap

摘要

This paper contains an analysis of user behaviour when interacting with the result list of an information retrieval (IR) system retrieving elements from structured documents. The data set was obtained from the INEX 2005 Interactive Track, where a group of users searched information on travel destinations marked up in XML. The aim of this study is to determine the user preferences for element granularity and to examine how the users deal with overlapping elements. In addition, the difference in user behaviour when viewing the results in isolation or in the context of the surrounding elements is analysed. The results suggest that the users prefer element of depth 2-4 to whole documents. Users view fewer overlapping elements than expected and the user behaviour suggests the users consciously view some overlapping elements. There is almost no difference in behaviour whether the users view the element in the context of its document or in isolation.