Navigation Behaviour On The Internet - A Qualitative Analysis Of Typical Search Strategies Of Users Of The German Education Server

Abstract

The task of education portals is to make it easier for "normal users" to access the desired information. The empirical studies available so far on the real search behaviour of Internet users mainly refer to general search engines. The aim of the present study is to investigate the search behaviour and typical search queries of normal users of educational portals in a qualitative analysis. The basis for this were log files of the German Education Server from the period October 2001 to April 2002. These were processed and, on the one hand, examined for typical search queries and, on the other hand, insights into individual search strategies were worked out and qualitatively analysed. These results are compared with the results of other empirical studies. Some conclusions for the further development of education portals form the conclusion of the study.