Reducing Indeterminism in Consultation: A Cognitive Model of User/Librarian Interactions

Abstract

In information facilities such as libraries, finding documents that are relevant to a user query is\ndifficult because of the indeterminism involved in the process by which documents are indexed,\nand the latitude users have in choosing terms to express a query on a particular topic. Reference\nlibrarians play an important support role in coping with this indeterminism, focusing user queries\nthrough an interactive dialog. Based on thirty detailed observations of user/librarian interactions\nobtained through a field experiment, we have developed a computational model designed to simulate\nthe reference librarian. The consultation includes two phases. The first is handle search,\nwhere the user's rough problem statement and a user stereotyping imposed by the librarian are\nused in determining the appropriate tools (handles). The second phase is document search, involving\nthe search for documents within a chosen handle. We are collaborating with the university\nlibrary for putting our model to use as an intelligent assistant for an online retrieval system.