Eliciting better information need descriptions from users of information search systems

In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of a technique for eliciting more robust information need descriptions from users of information systems. We propose that such a technique can be used to elicit terms from users for use in query expansion and as a follow-up when ambiguous queries are initially posed. We design a feedback form to obtain additional information from users, administer the form to users after initial querying, and create a series of experimental runs based on the information that we obtained from the form. Results demonstrate that the form was successful at eliciting more information from users and that this additional information significantly improved retrieval performance. Our results further demonstrate a strong relationship between query length and performance.