4.2 The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface

4.2 The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface

Marcia J. Bates

Bates’ article looks at the idea of berrypicking, a new (in 1989) technique for both online and offline system searching. The system of berrypicking is supposed to closely mimic the way most people search for information. When a set of results is given, the best results are not usually clumped together, but are scattered throughout, and the user must pick and choose. Satisfaction with the search is attained through careful selection of information that fulfills the need. Bates also discusses desired capabilities of a search interface designed for berrypicking. The resulting interface would have many strategies available for best searching. This system would allow the search to evolve, not expect the user to have a finite destination at the beginning of the search.

From the articles we have read so far, I feel like this article is written most clearly. It lays out in the beginning of the writing the two big points covered, and it has clearly labeled sections. Beyond readability, however, the process described was very easy for me, as a student, to understand. When posing a search query, even on a simple system such as Google, a user has to use his or her own knowledge to determine what bits of information are worthwhile and related to their information need. If I am searching for a recipe on Google, and I simply put in “boiled chicken,” I am going to get a lot of different results, some of which may be for specific dishes. To find a simple recipie for boiled chicken, I have to look at a few recipes to find what most fulfills my information need.

Bates’ idea of giving many search mechanism in a system to facilitate berrypicking seems very strong. If the user has many options of ways to search a database, they can use the type that seems most comfortable. I also like that these search methods would work together. If I found an article I really liked via one method, I could both search that author to find out what else they had published, and do a citation search to look at the information the author has cited in his piece. Having browsing capabilities also allows for casual searching that can become more directed the information need persists. A berrypicking search system would be very useful within a library situation, especially in use for children. Having multiple ways to explore knowledge within the same system is both interested and beneficial to a child just learning to research.

I am curious, really, why it took so long to come up with this method of organizing a search system. It would seem that in the effort to become more user oriented, that the systems would try to more closely mimic the search patterns of users.