Searching Behaviour

Searching Behaviour

This is a book about proximate mechanisms. Although some theoreti cal structure is used to introduce the subject, the intent is to offer a comprehensive view of the mechanistic side of searching (or foraging) so as to balance the current emphasis of books on mathematical and functional models. It seems to me that the pendulum needs to swing back to studies of how animals behave, and that maybe in so doing models will become valuable again in driving experimentation. I have probably included too many examples in this book, and some are even presented in great detail. Hopefully, they provide a complete picture of the kind of animals used, the experimental setup, the kinds of data yielded, and how the data were analysed. I have done this in response to frustrating experiences of reading chapters in behavioural ecobgy books that provide insufficient information with which to evaluate an author's conclusion.

Interactive Information Seeking, Behaviour and Retrieval

Information retrieval (IR) is a complex human activity supported by sophisticated systems. Information science has contributed much to the design and evaluation of previous generations of IR system development and to our general understanding of how such systems should be designed and yet, due to the increasing success and diversity of IR systems, many recent textbooks concentrate on IR systems themselves and ignore the human side of searching for information. This book is the first text to provide an information science perspective on IR. Unique in its scope, the book covers the whole spectrum of information retrieval, including: history and background information behaviour and seeking task-based information searching and retrieval approaches to investigating information interaction and behaviour information representation access models evaluation interfaces for IR interactive techniques web retrieval, ranking and personalization recommendation, collaboration and social search multimedia: interfaces and access. Readership: Senior undergraduates and masters' level students of all information and library studies courses and practising LIS professionals who need to better appreciate how IR systems are designed, implemented and evaluated.

Artificial Intelligence – Agent Behaviour