Web information seeking and retrieval in digital library contexts: towards an intelligent agent solution
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520210452736 |
| Pages | 404-412 |
| Published date | 01 December 2002 |
| Date | 01 December 2002 |
| Author | Brian Detlor,Clément Arsenault |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Web information
seeking and retrieval in
digital library contexts:
towards an intelligent
agent solution
Brian Detlor and
CleÂment Arsenault
Introduction
In recent years, the World Wide Web has
been a driving force of change in the way
people traditionally have gone about seeking
and retrieving information. Due to the Web's
convenience and access to vast information
sources, more and more people utilise Web
browsers. Libraries have been quick to
respond to this shift to demand for Web-
based information. Many now offer clients
access to a plethora of Web-based
information services, including digital
libraries, subject-access gateways (i.e. library
portals), library Web sites, and Web-enabled
document collections.
One promising technology that potentially
offers libraries a means to facilitate people's
Web-based information seeking and retrieval
behaviour is intelligent agents. These are
software entities that perform specific tasks
continuously and autonomously in a
particular environment often inhabited by
other agents and processes (Shoham, 1997,
pp. 271-2). Although the use of agents has
been well-documented in the eCommerce
domain (Maes, 2001; Maes et al., 1999;
Rahman and Bignall, 2001), especially in
terms of industrial, commercial, medical, and
entertainment applications (Jennings and
Wooldridge, 1998), agents have received less
attention in terms of their potential
application in library contexts. The purpose
of this paper is to help bridge that gap.
To start, this paper introduces agents and
surveys the current domain and use of
intelligent agents in library environments. A
generic model is then presented which
illustrates how interface and information
agents could work cooperatively together to
facilitate Web-based access across local and
external library collections. Next, preliminary
results from a larger research investigation
exploring the utilisation of interface agents to
facilitate Web-based browsing and searching
are described. Based on these findings,
discussion ensues on the functionality
required by interface and information agents
to support Web information seeking and
retrieval in library contexts, as well as the
The authors
Brian Detlor is Assistant Professor of Management
Science and Information Systems at McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Cle ment Arsenault is Assistant Professor of Library and
Information Science at the Universite de Montre al,
Montre al, Que bec, Canada.
Keywords
Internet, Digital libraries, Agents, Information retrieval
Abstract
This paper discusses the role of intelligent agents in
facilitating the seeking and retrieval of information in
Web-based library environments.An overview is presented
on agents and their current application in library domains
to produce a generic agent-based model for libraries to
follow. The model suggests that Web-based information
seeking and retrieval in library contextscould be enhanced
through a collaborating network of interface and
information agents. Recent research results offer insights
on the design of interface agents to support Web-based
browsing and searching. These areapplied to the model in
terms of the functionality required to facilitate information
seeking and retrieval behaviour across library collections.
Implications on library policy and digital collections
surrounding the use of agents are also discussed.
Electronic access
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm Refereed article received 18 June 2002
Approved for publication 1 August 2002
This paper is supported by a grant from the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council of Canada.
404
Online Information Review
Volume 26 .Number 6 .2002 .pp. 404±412
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520210452736
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