| Current web search applications typically provide very generic search results to the user. Most of these results required further processing by the user to get the desired information, for example, by adding more search terms. Often, a user approaches from the point of view of information gathering when starting a search. In this thesis, we introduce two concepts, Information foraging theory and Berrypicking theory, from other fields into web search applications. A conceptual framework on how these two approaches can be applied in web search is presented. Furthermore, a prototype application, Suggg, is developed that demonstrates the use of a customizable search work space to optimize search efforts based on the Information foraging theory and Berrypicking theory. |
