How Well Do Physicians Use Electronic Information Retrieval Systems?

Studies comparing IR systems with different searching features have not shown that advanced searching methods are significantly more effective than simple text word methods, implying that further research and development are needed to improve system utility and performance.

Abstract

Studies comparing IR systems with different searching features have not shown that advanced searching methods are significantly more effective than simple text word methods. Most searches retrieve only one fourth to one half of the relevant articles on a given topic and, once retrieved, little is known about how these articles are interpreted or applied. These studies imply that further research and development are needed to improve system utility and performance.