This article reports on a study that uses a new analysis and display tool to examine the influences of understanding the system and goals on end-user Internet searching. Thirty-one public library users were observed searching the Web and/or a Web-based on-line catalog. The study identified four user categories, distinguished by the number of search approaches employed. These included linking, use of search engines, URL use, on-line catalog searching, and searching within a specific Web-site domain. Results conclude that experience and motivation, elements of situational goals and mental models, work in tandem to determine search approaches, Web sites visited, and sources used. People who sought information for job-related or educational purposes were highly motivated. Thus, they were persistent. Those who had a great deal of Internet experience used an array of tools; while those with immature mental models of the Internet relied more heavily on the Web on-line catalog or off-line sources. People seeking information for recreational or personal use were not highly motivated. Whether experienced or not, they relied on serendipity, linking, and other tasks that were not cognitively overbearing. When searching became too difficult, they abandoned the Internet as an information source. Introduction and BackgroundThe growth of the Internet has greatly redefined and expanded access to electronic information in libraries. In particular, the change in technology from on-line catalogs with vendor front ends that only display library holdings to Internet capability represents what Dennis, Carter, and Bordeleianu (1997) deem a paradigm shift in library hosted access to information. This expansion, coupled with the increasing importance of the Internet as an information source, demands that care be taken to assure access to all citizens.Public libraries provide, to a great number of citizens, physical access to the Internet (Bertot & McClure, 1999; McConnaughey, Evenette, Reynolds, & Lader, 1999). However, because a different mental model is required for Internet use than for older library technology, effective use might be limited (Hill, 1997;Saxon, 1997). For instance, unlike older systems, the Internet is decentralized, consisting of a huge amount of information of varying quality from numerous sources with varied indexing rules (Ercegovac, 1997;Jackson, 1994;Walker & Janes, 1999). The effect of this on end-user access to information is not yet known, but in light of the complexities inherent in on-line searching (Borgman, 1996;Dickson, 1984;Lewis, 1987; Matthews, Lawrence, & Ferguson, 1983;Peters, 1989;Solomon, 1994;Tolle, 1983), it is imperative that we understand the elements that might affect Internet accessibility.This article reports results from a study that used Web on-line catalog users as a control group to determine factors influencing search and navigational patterns of Internet users. It focuses on user understanding of the system by looking at mental models, expectations, and experience. It also examines u...

A number of anthropologists have argued that religious concepts are minimally counterintuitive and that this gives them mnemic advantages. This paper addresses the question of why people have the memory architecture that results in such concepts being more memorable than other types of concepts by pointing out the benefits of a memory structure that leads to better recall for minimally counterintuitive concepts and by showing how such benefits emerge in the real-time processing of comprehending narratives such as folk tales. This model suggests that memorability is not an inherent property of a concept; rather it is a property of the concept, the context in which the concept is presented, and the background knowledge that the comprehendor possesses about the concept. The model predicts how memorability of a concept should change if the context containing the concept were changed. The paper also presents the results of experiments carried out to test these predictions.

This article reports on a qualitative study exploring: (1) strategies and behaviors of public library users during interaction with an on-line public access catalog; and (2) users' confidence in finding needed information on-line. Questionnaires, interviews, and observations were employed to gather data from 32 public library users. The results found search behaviors, confidence, and other feelings varied, based on three types of searches: unknown-item searches, area searches, and known-item searches. Term generation was the most important factor in unknown-item search strategies. Speed and convenience played a role in area searches, and simplicity characterized known-item searches. Of the three types, unknown-item searchers experienced the most frustration and doubt; known-item searchers the most disappointment; and area searchers the most confidence and contentment. Knowledge of these differences may prove helpful for librarians and interface designers.

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Recent research has shown a memory advantage for minimally counterintuitive (MCI) concepts, over concepts that are either intuitive (INT) or maximally counterintuitive (MXCI), although the general result is heavily affected by context. Items from one such study were given to subjects who were asked to create novel stories using at least three concepts from a list containing all three types. Results indicated a preference for using MCI items (as in the recall studies), and further disclosed two styles of usage, an accommodative style and an assimilative style. The results extend recent memory research and suggest extensions to recent theories intended to explain the prevalence of counterintuitive religious concepts.For some years now, cognitive attempts to understand the pervasiveness and universality of religious belief have relied heavily upon "Minimal Counterintuitiveness" as an explanation for why certain concepts are easy to remember and transmit. According to this view, concepts that violate a limited number of the ontological expectations of folk biology, 1 The present paper is the outcome of a short-lived informal research group, the "I-75 Culture & Cognition Group." The authors are indebted to the staff of the Grounds for Thought coffee house, Bowling Green, Ohio, for providing a stimulating and comfortable environment during which these ideas were formulated and discussed.