The MARS User Access to Service Committee is interested in exploring the
information-seeking behavior of our users in the current environment. While
there is a large body of literature dealing with catalog use and end-user
searching, there does not seem to be a comparable body of information
reflecting more current issues--issues of user behavior with multiple
citation databases, proliferating interfaces, and web access to an ever
increasing body of information, good and bad. How are users making sense
of the conflicting messages in an information environment in which the only
constant seems to be change?
We have attempted to list on this Web site a range of studies that focus on
user behavior in this environment, including, but certainly not
limited to,
Internet and web behavior. We have been interested in studies which look at
such questions as, How do users make choices among databases? How do they move
from one interface to another? How do they decide what is an appropriate source
of information? We have not included catalog use studies, unless they discuss
the catalog as a choice among or gateway to other databases. Also excluded are
surveys of use of the Internet (or of other databases) by librarians, surveys of
what kind of access is offered in various libraries, surveys which merely tell us
that
users prefer CDs to print indexes, those that deal with database tracking
software, and so on. We have tended to exclude studies dealing with only a single
database unless it dealt with infrequently studied user groups or raised
significant questions.
This bibliography is an ongoing project. We welcome suggestions for additions
to the bibliography and
also include a form for researchers to record work in
progress.
For more Information contact
Sally J. Jacobs, Chair MARS/UAS Committee
UASC
membership
Bibliography
Citations only
Author Index
Current Research
New research form.
