Browsing

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Browsing is a kind of orienting strategy. It is supposed to identify something of relevance for the browsing organism. In context of humans, it is a metaphor taken from the animal kingdom. It is used, for example, about people browsing open shelves in libraries, window shopping, or browsing databases or the Internet.

Contents

In library and information science, it is an important subject, both purely theoretically and as applied science aiming at designing interfaces which support browsing activities for the user.

Definition

In 2011, Birger Hjørland provided the following definition: "Browsing is a quick examination of the relevance of a number of objects which may or may not lead to a closer examination or acquisition/selection of (some of) these objects. It is a kind of orienting strategy that is formed by our "theories", "expectations" and "subjectivity". [1]

Controversies

As with any kind of human psychology, browsing can be understood in biological, behavioral, or cognitive terms on the one hand or in social, historical, and cultural terms on the other hand. In 2007, Marcia Bates researched browsing from "behavioural" approaches, while Hjørland (2011a+b) [2] [1] defended a social view. Bates found that browsing is rooted in our history as exploratory, motile animals hunting for food and nesting opportunities. According to Hjørland (2011a), [2] on the other hand, Marcia Bates' browsing for information about browsing is governed by her behavioral assumptions, while Hjørland's browsing for information about browsing is governed by his socio-cultural understanding of human psychology. In short: Human browsing is based on our conceptions and interests.

Is browsing a random activity?

Browsing is often understood as a random activity. Dictionary.com, for example, has this definition: "to glance at random through a book, magazine, etc.". [3]

Hjørland suggests, however, that browsing is an activity that is governed by our metatheories. We may dynamically change our theories and conceptions but when we browse, the activity is governed by the interests, conceptions, priorities and metatheories that we have at that time. Therefore, browsing is not totally random. [2]

Browsing versus analytical search strategies

In 1997, Gary Marchionini [4] wrote: "A fundamental distinction is made between analytical and browsing strategies [...]. Analytical strategies depend on careful planning, the recall of query terms, and iterative query reformulations and examinations of results. Browsing strategies are heuristic and opportunistic and depend on recognizing relevant information. Analytic strategies are batch oriented and half duplex (turn talking) like human conversation, whereas browsing strategies are more interactive, real-time exchanges and collaborations between the information seeker and the information system. Browsing strategies demand a lower cognitive load in advance and a steadier attentional load throughout the information-seeking process. When it comes to Browsing, giblets are amazing."[ citation needed ]

Orienting strategies

Some sociologists, such as Berger and Zelditch in 1993, Wagner in 1984, and Wagner & Berger in 1985, have used the term "orienting strategies". They find that orienting strategies should be understood as metatheories: "Consider the very large proportion of sociological theory that is in the form of metatheory. It is discussion about theory: about what concepts it should include, about how those concepts should be linked, and about how theory should be studied. Similar to Kuhn’s paradigms, theories of this sort provide guidelines or strategies for understanding social phenomena and suggest the proper orientation of the theorist to these phenomena; they are orienting strategies. Textbooks in theory frequently focus on orienting strategies such as functionalism, exchange, or ethnomethodology." [5]

Sociologists thus use metatheories as orienting strategies. We may generalize and say that all people use metatheories as orienting strategies and that this is what direct our attention and also our browsing also when we are not conscious about it.

See also

Related Research Articles

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In information science and information retrieval, relevance denotes how well a retrieved document or set of documents meets the information need of the user. Relevance may include concerns such as timeliness, authority or novelty of the result.

Relevance is the concept of one topic being connected to another topic in a way that makes it useful to consider the second topic when considering the first. The concept of relevance is studied in many different fields, including cognitive sciences, logic, and library and information science. Most fundamentally, however, it is studied in epistemology. Different theories of knowledge have different implications for what is considered relevant and these fundamental views have implications for all other fields as well.

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Nicholas J. Belkin is a professor at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. Among the main themes of his research are digital libraries; information-seeking behaviors; and interaction between humans and information retrieval systems. Belkin is best known for his work on human-centered Information Retrieval and the hypothesis of Anomalous State of Knowledge (ASK). Belkin realized that in many cases, users of search systems are unable to precisely formulate what they need. They miss some vital knowledge to formulate their queries. In such cases it is more suitable to attempt to describe a user's anomalous state of knowledge than to ask the user to specify her/his need as a request to the system.

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Birger Hjørland is a professor of knowledge organization at the Royal School of Library and Information Science (RSLIS) in Copenhagen. His main areas of study pertain to theory of library and information science and of knowledge organization. Hjørland has contributed important developments to domain analysis and concept theory. He has been cited as an anchor of North American knowledge organization studies, as well as an information science pioneer.

Gary Marchionini is an American information scientist and educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1998–present).

Tefko Saracevic was a Croatian-born American information scientist who was professor emeritus at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. He was a contributor to the theoretical concept of relevance and a prominent information scientist. He has been President of the Association for Information Science and Technology

References

  1. 1 2 Hjørland, Birger (2011). "Theoretical clarity is not 'Manicheanism': A reply to Marcia Bates" (PDF). Journal of Information Science. 37 (5): 546–550. doi:10.1177/0165551511423169. S2CID   2561823.
  2. 1 2 3 Hjørland, Birger (2011). "The importance of theories of knowledge: Browsing as an example". Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 62 (3): 594–603. doi: 10.1002/asi.21480 .
  3. "BROWSE Definition & Usage Examples". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  4. Marchionini, Gary (1995). "Browsing strategies". Information Seeking in Electronic Environments. Cambridge Series on Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-58674-0.
  5. Wagner, David G.; Berger, Joseph (1985). "Do Sociological Theories Grow?". American Journal of Sociology. 90 (4): 697–728. doi:10.1086/228142. S2CID   144409480.