A study of querying behaviour of expert and non-expert users of biomedical search systems

The amount of biomedical literature, and the popularity of health-related searches, are both growing rapidly. While most biomedical search systems offer a range of advanced features, there is limited understanding of user preferences, and how searcher expertise relates to the use and perception of different search features in this domain. Through a controlled user study where both medical experts and non-medical participants were asked to carry-out informational searches in a task-based environment, we seek to understand how querying behaviour differs, both in the formulation of query strings, and in the use of advanced querying features. Our results suggest that preferences vary substantially between these groups of users, and that biomedical search systems need to offer a range of tools in order to effectively support both types of searchers.