Procedural Knowledge Search by Intelligence Analysts

Prior studies have explored the information-seeking practices of specific professional communities, including lawyers, physicians, engineers, recruiters, and government workers. In this research, we investigate the information-seeking practices of intelligence analysts (IAs) employed by a U.S. government agency. Specifically, we focus on the needs, practices, and challenges related to IAs searching for procedural knowledge using an internal system called the Tradecraft Hub (TC Hub). The TC Hub is a searchable repository of procedural knowledge documents written by agency employees. Procedural knowledge (as opposed to factual and conceptual knowledge) includes knowledge about step-by-step procedures, techniques, methods, tools, technologies, and skills, and is inherently task-oriented. We report on a survey study involving 22 IAs who routinely use the TC Hub. Our survey was designed to address four research questions. In RQ1, we investigate the types of work-related objectives that motivate IAs to search the TC Hub. In RQ2, we investigate the types of information IAs seek when they search the TC Hub. In RQ3, we investigate important relevance criteria used by IAs when judging the usefulness of information. Finally, in RQ4, we investigate the challenges faced by IAs when searching the TC Hub. Based on our findings, we discuss implications for improving and extending searchable knowledge base systems such as the TC Hub that exist in many organizations.