Abstract :
Context is one of the most important concepts in information
seeking and retrieval research. However, the
challenges of studying context are great; thus, it is more
common for researchers to use context as a post hoc
explanatory factor, rather than as a concept that drives
inquiry. The purpose of this study was to develop a
method for collecting data about information seeking
context in natural online environments, and identify
which aspects of context should be considered when
studying online information seeking. The study is
reported in two parts. In this, the second part, results
and implications of this research are presented. Part 1
(Kelly, 2006) discussed previous literature on information
seeking context and behavior, situated the current
study within this literature, and described the naturalistic,
longitudinal research design that was used to examine
and measure the online information seeking context
of seven users during a 14-week period. Results provide
support for the value of the method in studying online
information seeking context, the relative importance of
various measures of context, how these measures
change over time, and, finally, the relationship between
these measures. In particular, results demonstrate significant
differences in distributions of usefulness ratings
according to task and topic.
