AFFECTIVE RESPONSE AND RETRIEVAL PERFORMANCE - ANALYSIS OF CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

The authors investigated the affective response of 83 subjects to two versions of a hypertext-based bibliographic retrieval system. Randomly assigned to one of two systems, one with inter-record linkages to aut hors and descriptors and one which also linked title and abstract keyw ords, subjects were asked about their affective response to their sear ch experience. The data were analyzed using factor analysis; two facto rs (maneuverability and perceptions) were identified for the basic sys tem and three factors (maneuverability, usability, and novelty) were i dentified for the enhanced system. The complex relationship between sy stem and user was sometimes contradictory, with subjects finding the s ystems to be usable or unusable in different ways.