5. Discussion
5.1. Answering of the Research Questions
Figure 49: Classification Based on two Dimensions: Planning & Documentation Considering Fields of Study
96% of the participants do their PhD and where 80% of the sample are employed. This might have influenced the Browser Choice. A strategy found to be used for a quicker access by one third of the participants is setting quick links to the mostly used search engines/databases, placed either directly on the desktop or in the browser’s bookmark bar. 96% of the participants consciously make use of the possibility to open multiple tabs and/or windows.
With regards to Websites, Search Engines and Databases, the results show that the services offered by Google play a significant and dominant role for exploratory online information seeking of ongoing experts. 88% of the participants (22/25) mentioned at least one of those to be a central part of their exploratory online information seeking activities. The PhD students in the sample were found to use 1-4 primary websites as main access point for exploratory online information seeking. By almost half of the participants, one of the Google Services was mentioned in this context, which again emphasises the dominant role played by Google.
The overall second most used search engine is the search engine provided by the home universities of the ongoing experts (used by 80% of the participants). In contrast to Google Services, the university-provided search engine is however only mentioned as primary website in one case. Instead, it is mostly used for the purpose of searching for books. As books were found to especially play a key role for a preparative familiarization with a given topic, it seems that the university-provided search engines have a huge supporting function at the beginning of an exploratory search but then loose importance. Thus, they are not central to the overall search process.
The results further show, that the choice of search engines/databases varies by purpose of the respective search action.
RQ 2: Which common action patterns can be identified for the purpose of exploratory online information seeking by ongoing experts?
The results reveal strategies of ongoing experts for three purposes: fighting the masses of information, finding information back and accessing information although the home university does not provide the necessary access right.
For the purpose of fighting the masses of information, basically three action patterns were identified: A conscious, preparative familiarization, a pre-filtering of potential results and a filtering of given results. For familiarizing with a relatively new topic, most of the participants (60%) make use of books. Other frequently mentioned approaches are leveraging the personal network or watching videos (by 28% respectively). For pre-filtering potential results, ongoing experts make use of the filtering tools provided by search engines/databases and/or engage in manual filtering by using Boolean Operators and other command symbols. For an evaluation
of quality and/or relevance, ongoing expert’s scientific experience is found to play a significant role. Here, more than 60% were found to decide subjectively when reading or skimming through the material and/or to decide based on meta-information. 44% of the participants make use of rankings for an evaluation. The common strategy for filtering of the given results is a two-step filtering process: In a first filtering step screening the result list on basis of individually set first screening criteria, and in a next step opening those documents left over for a second screening.
For the purpose of finding information back, proactive and reactive action patterns were found.
Mostly mentioned strategies are the proactive action of setting a bookmark and the reactive actions of searching for details which can be recalled or the attempt to replicate the search actions taken when the needed information was found the first time.
Finally, for solving the problem of not having access right three types of action were identified:
Leveraging the University Resources (e.g. library, inter loan service), Leveraging the own network or using pirate websites.
Networking is a strategy found to be applied for various purposes during exploratory web search and thus requires special mentioning. Namely, ongoing experts leverage their personal network for the purpose of quality and relevance evaluation, for finding the right/relevant search terms, for familiarizing with a relatively new topic and for solving the problem of missing access right. It is not an activity performed online solely, but its frequent mentioning in relation to exploratory online search shows that it has an important supporting function for exploratory online information seeking.
RQ 3: In how far do ongoing experts organize their exploratory online information seeking process?
The answering of this question solely focuses on the search for scientific articles, as it is the basic common point between all participants.
With regards to the organization of exploratory online information seeking, two distinguishable dimensions were found: the level of planning and the type of documentation. Namely, three levels of planning were identified, with each additional level bringing along a rising degree of systematics and a decreasing degree of flexibility. Concerning the second dimension of organization, documentation, two different kinds were identified: the documentation of the information seeking process and the documentation of results found. None of the sample of ongoing experts did engage in both of those kinds of documentation. It stands out that about half of the participants neither engage in any level of planning nor in any kind of documentation.
Their information seeking behaviour can be characterized as opportunistic and intuitive and is
comparable to the berrypicking model of Bates (1989). Thus, half of the participants attempt to defy the complexity of exploratory online information seeking with berrypicking-like behaviour and the other half engages in some kind of organization and thus attempts to defy complexity with a certain systematics.