Internetworking of Factors Affecting Successive Searches Over Multiple Episodes

Successive information searches are fairly common. To enhance the understanding of the behavior, this study attempted to improve both the descriptive and explanatory power of the Multiple Information Seeking Episodes (MISE) model, a conceptual model characterizing factors affecting successive searches. It empirically observed how the key factors in the information seeking process in the MISE model evolve over multiple search sessions and explained how those factors are affected by other factors associated with searchers, search activity, search context, systems, information attainment, and information– use activities. The validated and enriched MISE model can be extended to serve the basis for future studies in other complex searches process such as multi-tasking and collaborative searches, and can also help identify problems that users face and thus derive requirements for system support