Stephens, Owen wrote:
> I have to admit the use of 'See: ' doesn't make a huge amount of
> sense to me - if we (librarians/systems) know what the synonym is,
> then why do we feel the need to 'educate' the user (see the What
> Users Understand thread)?
Of course. That's not the issue.
>
> This aside, I still wonder about the nature of browse - any
> literature I can look at?
We are talking of "index browsing", not "browsing" in all its broad,
general, everyday usage. Think of this like browsing the index of
a book, an alphanumerical arrangement. Only that in a database index
you don't physically flip pages but click links to get the results
behind the index entries. Or, for that matter, to be taken forthwith to
the synonym or alternate form of name or whatever. The point is that
the index gives you serendipitous context from which to go on
and explore terms you didn't happen to think of but find useful.
Something to which keyword searching, for all its merits, just cannot be
equivalent - for it cannot show you what you missed. Good index browsing
offers help and insight in an unobtrusive way - once the user
understands what an index actually is. If the latter is inachievable,
then of course that concept is doomed, for better or worse. (Consult
Jims latest posting do decide which.)
B.E.
Received on Fri Mar 13 2009 - 06:16:06 EDT