This paper describes a project in which an analysis was undertaken of user queries addressed to seven libraries which manage archives of widely varying still and moving image material. The sampling procedure is described, in which queries obtained from each library were broadly categorised by image content, identification and accessibility. Attention is focused on the image content requests, for which a categorisation based on facet analysis is developed. The analytical tool which is used for this purpose is based on a schema already well established for the analysis of levels of meaning in images.
The project demonstrates the possibility of formulating a general categorisation of requests which seek widely different still and moving image material. The paper concludes with observations on the potential value of embedding such a schema within the user interface of unmediated-query visual information retrieval systems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
[1] A.E. Cawkell , Indexing Collections of Electronic Images: A Review (British Library Research Review 15) ( British Library, London , 1993).
2.
[2] A.E. Cawkell , Picture-queries and picture databases , Journal of Information Science19 (6) (1993) 409-423 .
3.
[3] P.G.B. Enser , Pictorial information retrieval (Progress in Documentation) , Journal of Documentation51(2) (1995) 126-170 .
4.
[4] P.G.B. Enser , An indexing-free approach to the retrieval of still images . In: A. McEnery (ed.), Proceedings of the 13th British Computer Society Information Retrieval Specialist Group Research Colloquium, University of Lancaster, 8-9 April 1991 (British Computer Society, London, 1991), pp. 41-55 .
5.
[5] S. Shatford , Analyzing the subject of a picture: a theoretical approach , Cataloguing and Classification Quarterly5(3) (1986) 39-61 .
6.
[6] S. Shatford , Describing a picture: a thousand words are seldom cost effective , Cataloging and Classification Quarterly4(4) (1984) 13-30 .
7.
[7] S. Shatford Layne , Some issues in the indexing of images , Journal of the American Society for Information Science45(8) (1994) 583-588 .
8.
[8] E. Svenonius , Access to nonbook materials: the limits of subject indexing for visual and aural languages , Journal of the American Society for Information Science45(8) (1994) 600-606 .
9.
[9] K. Markey , Computer-assisted construction of a thematic catalog of primary and secondary subject matter , Visual ResourcesIII (1983) 16-49 .
[11] M. Hogan , C. Jorgensen and P. Jorgensen , The visual thesaurus in a hypermedia environment: a preliminary exploration of conceptual issues and applications . In: D. Bearman (ed.), Hypermedia and Interactivity in Museums: Proceedings of an International Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, October 1991 (Technical Report 14) (Archives and Museum Informatics, Pittsburgh, PA, 1991), pp. 202-221 .
12.
[12] B.C. O’Connor , Representation and the utility of moving image documents , Annual Conference of ASIS (1986) 237-243 .
13.
[13] R. Hidderleyet al. , Capturing iconology: a study in retrieval modelling and image indexing . In: M. Collier and K. Arnold (eds), Electronic Library and Visual Information research. ELVIRA 2. The Proceedings of the Second ELVIRA Conference, held in May 1995 at De Montfort University, Milton Keynes (Aslib, London, 1995), pp. 79-91 .
14.
[14] L.H. Keistler , User types and queries: impact on image access systems. In: R. Fidelet al. (eds), Challenges in Indexing Electronic Text and Images (ASIS Monograph Series) ( Learned Information Inc, Medford, NJ , 1994) pp. 7-22.
15.
[15] S. Ornager , The newspaper image database: empirical supported analysis of users’ typology and word association clusters . In: Proceedings of the 18th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, 9-13 July, Seattle, WA, pp. 212-218 .
16.
[16] P.G.B. Enser and C.G. Mcgregor , Analysis of Visual Information Retrieval Queries (British Library R&D Report 6104) ( British Library, London , 1992).
17.
[17] P.G.B. Enser , Query analysis in a visual information retrieval context , Journal of Document and Text Management1(1) (1993) 25-52 .
18.
[18] L.H. Armitage and P.G.B. Enser , Information Need in the Visual Document Domain (British Library Research and Innovation Report 27) ( British Library, London , 1996).
19.
[19] E. Panofsky , Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of Renaissance ( Harper and Row, New York , 1962).
