A comparative survey of the friendliness of online “help” in interactive information retrieval systems

摘要

This article discusses the provision of “help” in interactive information retrieval systems (IIRS) and describes a comparative survey of the “help” facilities of 16 such systems. Six guidelines for the design of a “help” facility are drawn up and these are used to evaluate the quality and friendliness of the “help” provided by each system. The scores indicate that “help” on IIRS is often inadequate, especially on the commercial online systems. The article concludes by discussing why “help” is so unfriendly and by suggesting some ways in which online “help” could be improved.