What do people ask for on the Web and how do they ask it: Ask Jeeves query analysis

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Spink A., Ozmutlu H. C.

ASIST 2001: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 64TH ASIST ANNUAL MEETING, VOL 38, 2001, vol.38, pp.545-554, 2001 (SCI-Expanded)

• Publication Type: Article / Article
• Volume: 38
• Publication Date: 2001
• Journal Name: ASIST 2001: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 64TH ASIST ANNUAL MEETING, VOL 38, 2001
• Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
• Page Numbers: pp.545-554
• Bursa Uludag University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Web search engine users normally enter a series of short Boolean queries. Some Web search services such as Ask Jeeves request users to enter question queries. We report findings from a study examining the nature of queries submitted to Ask Jeeves - a publicly accessible question and answer (Q&A) search engine. Some 30,000 queries from a dataset of 800,000 queries, or 3.75% of queries, were analyzed. Results include: (1) many queries not in question format, (2) four types of user queries: keyword, Boolean, question and request, and (3) common formats for question and request queries. Our findings provide an initial mapping of the structure and content of queries to QA systems.