Search Behaviours of Image Users: A Pilot Study on Museum Objects

• Published in: Partnership 2011-01, Vol.6 (1), p.1
• Main Author: Menard, Elaine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: End users; Image retrieval; Multilingual systems; Multilingualism; Museum studies; Museums; Search engines; Search strategies
• ISSN: 1911-9593; 1911-9593
• DOI: 10.21083/partnership.v6i1.1433

Many factors can overwhelm the image searcher who is trying to retrieve images. Consequently, retrieving images is still a problem for the majority of individuals, especially for images associated with text written in different languages, unknown to users. The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate the factors affecting search behaviours of image users and to examine how individuals formulate their queries to retrieve museum object images indexed in different languages, using different search engines. This study also compared the search behaviours using different types of search engines to retrieve specific museum object images. It also highlighted how multilingual search functionalities are perceived and used when performing an image search task in a multilingual retrieval context. Thirty participants randomly divided into three independent groups assigned to one different search engine was used for this study. Each participant was asked to retrieve three mages using an all-purpose search engine and a specialized search engine. Once the retrieval of the images was completed, the participants filled out a questionnaire to gather comments on the retrieval tasks they performed and information on their search behaviours of Web images indexed in different languages. Multilingualism plays a strategic role in the quality and effectiveness of communication services offered on the Internet. Consequently, it is of significant importance to make information available to the largest audience possible and to overcome language barriers by providing tools suited to the real and current needs of image searchers. The main contribution of this pilot study is to enhance the knowledge and understanding of image searching behaviour, in order to provide a basis for the modelling of a new search interface that takes into account the needs and expectations of real users.