Track

Research-in-Progress

Abstract

Enterprise search technology retrieves digital objects and internally generated content within organizations. Unlike otherretrieval environments, enterprise search is a community of practice which responds to expected activity at similar times.Collective mind theory (Weick & Roberts, 2003) is similar to retrieval environments where the unplanned movements ofmultiple people move towards a similar end. An inductive, interpretive (Walsham, 1995) case study (Yin, 2009) wasconducted in a government agency to understand enterprise search practices. The method of analysis was analytic induction(LeCompte & Schensul, 1999; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Interviews, observations and searchinterfaces were interpreted through theory and summarized in a process model. The model illustrates relationships betweensearch interfaces and sequences of activity. This study identified the phenomenon of collective information-seeking behaviorin organizations. The results provide a unique way to understand the role of search interface design for information systems.

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