Browse to search, visualize to explore: Who needs an alternative information retrieving model?

This article presents the results of the evaluation of SCIViS - a visualization-based scientific information retrieval (IR) system. SCIViS is based on the logic of concept maps and enables the visualization of relationships among descriptors and authors of scientific papers. It creates an interactive interface between the user's cognitive space and document information space. The system was evaluated by the group of 138 psychology students which have performed a variety of search tasks, using both the classic text-based and the visualization based IR systems. The SCIViS model has proved to be effective and intuitive. Participants were more efficient using the visual IR system, particularly when performing tasks requiring modifications of the initial query and finding alternative keywords. User responses indicated that system's speed and ease of use are the most important attributes of the overall assessment. They also revealed the impact of users' previous experience with IR systems on users' satisfaction and perception of usefulness. Previous experience may be regarded both as the rate of success in performing search tasks, as well as the familiarity with popular search engines. The later one seems to be an important factor in modeling users' information seeking behavior and their attitudes toward alternative IR models.