Using ‘Search Transitions’ to Study Searchers’ Investment of Effort: Experiences with Client and Server Side Logging

We are investigating the value of using the concept ‘search transition’ for studying effort invested in information search processes. In this paper we present findings from a comparative study of data collected from client and server side loggings. The purpose is to see what factors of effort can be captured from the two logging methods. The data stems from studies of searchers interaction with an XML information retrieval system. The searchers interaction was simultaneously logged by a screen capturing software and the IR systems logging facility. In order to identify the advantages and disadvantages we have compared the data gathered from a selection of sessions. We believe there is value in identifying the effort investment in a search process, both to evaluate the quality of the search system and to suggest areas of system intervention in the search process, if effort investment can be detected dynamically.