Faculty Use of the World Wide Web: Modeling Information Seeking Behavior in a Digital Environment Page: 48
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research, "a strong commitment to research results in active use of many, but not all, of
the available sources of information" (p. 182).
Marchionini (1995) described information seeking in terms of two types of
strategies: "Analytical Search" strategies and "Browsing" strategies. The concept of
"Analytical Search" strategies (pp. 76-99) involved a more formalistic approach to using
information retrieval and database search engines. This type of strategy was more "goal
oriented" and involved a systematic use of system commands and operations to narrow
large data sets into useful retrieved sets of information on the topic of interest.
Professional information retrieval experts were more likely to use this approach to
finding information.
"Browsing" strategies (pp. 100- 138) involved more of the traditional serendipity
approach to finding information. This approach was depicted as the faculty member
wandering through the library's book stacks seeking information while chasing the
footnote trail of an article or monograph in hand. Marchionini described information
seekers who used the browsing strategy as employing a "variety of informal, heuristic
strategies" to find information. In an electronic environment, especially where on-line
connect fees are assessed, browsing could be very expensive, inefficient, distracting, and
time consuming. Marchionini felt "The key to using browsing strategies is selectively
using them for appropriate problems and with those systems that best support it" (p. 119).
The cost effective nature of the Internet and surfing the Web could certainly be such a
system to support the browsing strategy.48
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Fortin, Maurice G. Faculty Use of the World Wide Web: Modeling Information Seeking Behavior in a Digital Environment, dissertation, December 2000; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2723/m1/55/?rotate=90: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .