Skip to main content

Using a Task-Based Approach in Evaluating the Usability of BoBIs in an E-book Environment

  • Conference paper
Advances in Information Retrieval (ECIR 2008)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 4956))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

This paper reports on a usability evaluation of BoBIs (Back-of-the-book Indexes) as searching and browsing tools in an e-book environment. This study employed a task-based approach and within-subject design. The retrieval performance of a BoBI was compared with a ToC and Full-Text Search tool in terms of their respective effectiveness and efficiency for finding information in e-books. The results demonstrated that a BoBI was significantly more efficient (faster) and useful compared to a ToC or Full-Text Search tool for finding information in an e-book environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Coyle, K., et al.: Report on California Digital Library Joint Steering Committee for shared collections ebook task force (2001), http://www.cdlib.org/inside/groups/jsc/ebooks/

  2. Landoni, M., Gibb, F.: The role of visual rhetoric in the design and production of electronic books: the visual book. The Electronic Library 18(3), 190–201 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Landoni, M., Wilson, R., Gibb, F.: From the Visual Book to the WEB Book: the importance of design. The Electronic Library 18(6), 407–419 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Landoni, M., Crestani, F., Melucci, M.: The Visual Book and the Hyper-TextBook: two electronic books, one lesson? In: Proceedings of the RIAO 2000 Conference, Paris, April 12-14, pp. 247–265. CID-CASIS, Paris (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Landoni, M., Wilson, R., Gibb, F.: From the Visual Book to the WEB Book: the importance of design. The Electronic Library 18(6), 407–419 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Wilson, R., Landoni, M., Gibb, F.: A user-centred approach to e-book design. The Electronic Library 20(4), 322–330 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Brown, F.: Electronic media and the future of indexing (1995), http://www.allegrotechindexing.com/article01.htm

  8. Bennion, B.C.: Performance testing of a book and its index as an information retrieval system. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 31(4), 264–270 (1980)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Egan, D.E., et al.: Formative Design-Evaluation of SuperBook. ACM Transactions on Information Systems 7(1), 30–57 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Egan, D.E., et al.: Hypertext for the electronic library? CORE sample results. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Annual ACM Conference on Hypertext, San Antonio, Texas, December 15-18, pp. 299–312. ACM Press, New York (1991)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Mynatt, B.T., et al.: Hypertext or book: which is better for answering questions? In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Monterey, California, May 3-7, pp. 19–25. ACM Press, New York (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Catenazzi, N., Sommaruga, L.: Hyperbook: an experience in designing and evaluating electronic books. Journal of Documentation and Text Management 2(2), 81–102 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Barnum, C., et al.: Index versus full-text search: a usability study of user preference and performance. Technical Communication 51(2), 185–206 (2004)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  14. Henke, H.: An Empirical Design for eBooks. Chartula Press, Niwot (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wilson, R., Landoni, M.: Evaluating electronic textbooks: a methodology. In: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries, Darmstadt, September 4-9, pp. 1–12. Springer, Berlin (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Crestani, F., Ntioudis, S.P.: User centred valuation of an automatically constructed Hyper-Textbook. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 11(1), 3–19 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Vakkari, P.: Task-based information searching. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology 37, 413–464 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kinnear, P.R., Gray, C.D.: SPSS 14 Made Simple. Psychology Press, East Sussex (2006)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Craig Macdonald Iadh Ounis Vassilis Plachouras Ian Ruthven Ryen W. White

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Abdullah, N., Gibb, F. (2008). Using a Task-Based Approach in Evaluating the Usability of BoBIs in an E-book Environment. In: Macdonald, C., Ounis, I., Plachouras, V., Ruthven, I., White, R.W. (eds) Advances in Information Retrieval. ECIR 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4956. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78646-7_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78646-7_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-78645-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-78646-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics