In this contribution, we address exploratory search where a user is faced with an information need concerning a domain he lacks specific knowledge. Based on the work of Delbru et al., which introduced metrics to measure the navigational quality of automatically selected facets for RDF data, we apply those findings to the semantically richer TMDM and show how exploratory search functionality can...

Successful information search requires a joint effort from both syntactic matching provided by current search engines and semantic matching performed by human users. Word-based syntactic matching schemes work well for tasks such as homepage finding or fact finding, but they are less effective in supporting exploratory search tasks such as learning and investigation. One way to overcome this lim...

This paper presents the Semantic Multimedia Explorer (SEMEX) a semantic search engine that supports exploratory video retrieval. SEMEX combines entities and content-based suggestions to support semantic search. The SEMEX interface provides facet filters, entity recommendations, a pagination and browsable search results; all of these elements are interconnected by instant “linking and brushing”....

The traditional way a user interacts with a database system is through queries. Structured query languages, such as SQL for relational data, XQuery for XML, and SPARQL for RDF data, allow users to submit queries that may precisely capture their information needs, but users need to be familiar with the underlying ontology and data structure and of course the query language itself. Moreover, user...

In this paper, we investigate the use of semantic differentials in obtaining the evaluative view held by users of the search engine. The completed scales of bipolar adjectives were analysed to suggest the dimensions of the user judgment formed when asked to characterize a search engine. These were then used to obtain a comparative evaluation of two engines potentially offering different types o...

Conversational interfaces are likely to become more efficient, intuitive and engaging way for human-computer interaction than today’s text or touch-based interfaces. Current research efforts concerning conversational interfaces focus primarily on question answering functionality, thereby neglecting support for search activities beyond targeted information lookup. Users engage in exploratory sea...

This paper presents a grid-based interaction model that is designed to encourage searchers to organize a complex search space by managing n × m sub spaces. A search interface was developed based on the proposed interaction model, and its performance was evaluated by a user study carried out in the context of the NTCIR-9 VisEx Task. With the proposed interface, there were cases where subjects di...

Understanding the structural complexity and the main drivers of animal search behaviour is pivotal to foraging ecology. Yet, the role of uncertainty as a generative mechanism of movement patterns is poorly understood. Novel insights from search theory suggest that organisms should collect and assess new information from the environment by producing complex exploratory strategies. Based on an ex...

Searching the Web for information via search engines is a ubiquitous phenomenon and a well-established field of study in Information Science. Social media sites also continue to evolve and by now have gained enough popularity and momentum to be used as not just vessels for communication with others, but also as important repositories of information. However, it is not clear if the information b...