穆斯定律英文原文.docx

穆斯定律英文原文.docx

《穆斯定律英文原文.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《穆斯定律英文原文.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

穆斯定律英文原文

Abstract

Mooers'Law,widelyreferencedintheliteratureofLibraryandInformationScience,hasgenerallybeenmisinterpretedasconcludingthatcustomerswilltendnottouseInformationRetrievalsystemsthataretoodifficultorfrustrating,wheninfactthelawaddressesthereluctanceofcustomerstouseanytypeofIRsystem,regardlessofitsfaultsormerits,withinanenvironmentinwhichhavinginformationrequiresmoreeffortthannothavingit.AnexpansionofMooers'originallawisproposed,basedupona“ScaleofInformationRetrievalEnvironments,”whichincludesnotonlythosetypesofenvironmentsaddressedbyMooers,butthoseinwhichapremiumisplaceduponhavinginformation,aswellasthoseinwhichtheeffortrequiredfromhavinginformationvs.nothavingitisfairlyevenlybalanced.

1.Introduction

In1959,CalvinMooers,oneofthepioneersofInformationRetrieval,setforthwhathecalleda“contradictoryprinciple”ofthefledglingscience,andattachedhisownnametoit:

Mooers'Law:

Aninformationretrievalsystemwilltendnottobeusedwheneveritismorepainfulandtroublesomeforacustomertohaveinformationthanforhimnottohaveit（Mooers1959b,p.1）.

Sincethattime,hislawhasbeenwidelyreferenced,especiallyinrecentyearsasInformationRetrievalhasbecomemorecentraltooursocietyandourindividuallives;aby-no-meansexhaustivesurveyoftheWorldWideWebandtheliteratureofvariousdisciplines（Business,Education,ComputerScience,andLibraryScience）revealsseveraldozencitationsfromthelastdecadealone.AninterestingthinghashappenedtoMooers'Law,however,alongthewaytoacceptance:

thelawthatisbecomingwidelyheldastruebyinformationprofessionalsisnotthesameonethatMr.Mooersproposed.

Thedifferencebetweentheactuallawanditsmutationcentersspecificallyuponamisinterpretationoftheword“have,”amisinterpretationwhichperhapsresultsprimarilyfromreadingthelawexcerptedfromtheoriginalarticleinwhichitappeared,andapplyingittoaconcernthatisdistinctlyseparatefromtheoneMr.Mooerswasattemptingtoaddress.Whatfollows,then,isanefforttocompareandcontrastwhatarereallytwoverydifferentMooers'Laws,whichforthepurposesofthisdiscussionwillbecategorizedas“In”and“Outof”context.

2.TheLawinContext

Mr.MooersoriginallyproposedhislawduringapaneldiscussionattheAnnualMeetingoftheAmericanDocumentationInstituteatLehighUniversityinOctober1959;theremarkshemadetherewere“excerpted,withmodifications”fromhisInformationRetrievalSelectionStudy,PartII:

SevenSystemModels,writtenearlierthatsameyear.ThelawthenappearedinprintasabriefpaperinZatorTechnicalBulletin136inDecember,andasaneditorialthenextyearinAmericanDocumentation（1960）.Morerecently,ithasbeenreprintedinTheScientist,bothinpaperformatandonline（1997）.

Mooers'Law,asheexplainsit,focusesonthe“painfulandtroublesome”aspectsofhavinginformationinhandandthereforefeelingobligatedtodosomethingwithit;inhisestimation,givenwhathecallsthe“presentintellectualandengineeringclimate”（1959b,p.1）,thecustomermightjustaswellwishnottohavetheinformation,evenifitisreadilyavailable.For,henotes,“Ifyouhaveinformation,youfirstmustreadit,whichisnotalwayseasy.Youmustthentrytounderstandit.Todothis,youmayhavetothinkaboutit”（1959b,p.2）.InMr.Mooers'ownwords,whatheissettingforthisa“principle…ofbehavior”（1959b,p.1）,andhisconcerniswithchangingaclimateinwhichthatbehaviorismoreoftenrewardedthanpunished.Theabilityofaninformationretrievalsystemquicklyandefficientlytoplaceinformationinthecustomer'shandsisnottheissue;indeed,thatiswhatMr.Mooersislamenting.

Inthebuildingandplanningofourinformationhandlingandretrievingsystems,wehavetendedtobelieveimplicitly,andtoassumethroughout,thathavinginformationeasilyavailablewasalwaysagoodthing,andthatallpeoplewhohadaccesstoaninformationsystemwouldwanttousethesystemtogettheinformation.Itisnowmysuggestionthatmanypeoplemaynotwantinformation,andthattheywillavoidusingasystempreciselybecauseitgivestheminformation[emphasisinoriginal].（1959b,pp.1–2）

InhisoriginalSevenSystemModelsstudy,hegoesevenfurther,settingforththefollowingasacorollarytohisas-yet-unnamedprinciple:

“Whereaninformationretrievalsystemtendsnottobeused,amorecapableinformationretrievalsystemmaytendtobeusedevenless”（1959a,p.34）.ThisisnotonlydifferentfromtheMooers'Lawthatappearssofrequentlyintheliteratureoftoday,butgivenaparticular“intellectual…climate”suchastheonehedescribes,distinctlyatoddswithit.

.TheLawoutofContext

Mooers'Law,asitisnowpopularlyperceivedamongwhatmightbetermedthe“InformationCommunity”,focusesupontheeffortthattheuserofaretrievalsystemmustputforthtoacquirethedesiredinformation.J.MichaelPemberton,ostensiblyquotingMooers,hasrestatedthissuccinctlyasfollows:

“Themoredifficultandtimeconsumingitisforacustomertouseaninformationsystem,thelesslikelyitisthathewillusethatinformationsystem”（1989,p.46）.RogerK.Summit,ChairmanEmeritusofDIALOGInformationServices,phrasesitanotherway:

“Mooers'lawtellsusthatinformationwillbeusedindirectproportiontohoweasyitistoobtain”（1993,p.16）.

Thisinterpretationofthelawisgenerallyusedasacautionarytaletothosewhowouldprovideaccesstoinformation:

Ifyoubuildit,andmakeittoohard,theywillnotcome.Toanyonewhohasusedadifficultsearchengineordatabaseinterface,thishastheringoftruthtoit,andthatmaybewhyMooers'Law,onceremovedfromitsoriginalcontext,hasresonatedontheInternetandwithintheliteratureofInformationScience.Here,itseems,istheoriginalarticulationofmanyofourcurrentfrustrations.Althoughthosefrustrationsmayindeedbevalid,theyarenotthesameonesthatledMr.Mooerstocomposehis“contradictoryprinciple”:

theInformationCommunityoftoday（andyesterdayaswell,accordingtoMooers）assumesthatuserswantinformationandwouldacquireitifitwereeasyenoughtoobtain;hereflectsthat,sadly,thismaynotalwaysbethecase（1959a,p.1）.

Bothconcerns—thatcustomerswillnotuseIRsystemsbecausehavingtheinformationistoomuchtroubleandbecausegettingtheinformationistoomuchtrouble—areultimatelybehavioralinnature,andbothadheretowhatEstherG.Bierbaumsetsforthasa“unifyingprinciple”forlibraryandinformationscience（1990,p.18）,namelyZipf's“PrincipleofLeastEffort”,whichcontends“thattheentirebehaviorofanindividualisatalltimesmotivatedbytheurgetominimizeeffort”（1949,p.3）,buttheyareclearlyseparateproblems,withseparatesolutions.We,thatis,theInformationCommunityoftoday,assumethatthereisatechnicalsolutiontoourconcern:

ifwecanbuildsystemsthatarefaster,moreintuitive,andprovidethecustomerwithresultsthatmorenearlymatchwhatheorsherequested,thenthosesystemswillbeheavilyused.Mooerssuggeststhatthesolutiontohisconcernliesinchangingtheculturethatcreatedit,andacknowledgesthatthisis“noeasytask”（1959a,p.39）.Again,itisimportanttoemphasizethatthissolutionliesoutsidetherealmofhardwareandsoftware;intheconclusionofhisSevenSystemModelsstudy,Mooersclearlystatesthat,inaculturesuchastheonehedescribes,“theamountofuseofaretrievalsystemdependsupontheintellectualenvironmentorsocialclimatesurroundingthesystem,andnotuponthefaultsormeritsofthesystemitself”（1959a,p.39）.

4.TheContextofEnvironment

Mooersacknowledgesthathislaw,iftrue,isa“pessimistic…evenacynicalconclusion”（1959a,p.32,1959b,p.1）,andatfirstglancesuchaconclusionwouldseemtopainthisentirecareer,andthoseofothersinthefield,asafutileendeavor,butforthefactthatthelawisrestrictedtocertain“userenvironments”（1959a,p.2）.Thisturnsouttobeanimportantpoint.ThespecificenvironmentthatMooerswasaddressingwasonethathebelievedexistedwithin“manycompanies,laboratories,andagencies”ofhisday,anenvironmentinwhich“rewards,insteadofpunishment,gowithnotusinginformation”（1959b,pp.1–2）.Heacknowledges,however,that“therearesituationswherethediligentfindinganduseofinformationisstressedandrewarded,andwherefailuretofindortouseinformationisseverelypunished”andnotesthat“insuchplaces,wecanexpectretrievalsystemswillbeactivelyused”（1959b,p.2）.InhisSevenSystemModelsstudy,hecites“thebestofthechemicalorpharmaceuticallaboratories”asexamplesofthistypeofenvironment,onesinwhich“management…iswellawareofthedollarcostsandlegalhazardsofnotmakinguseofinformation”（1959a,p.33）.Earlierinthesamestudy,hepointsoutthat,inanenvironmentsuchasthis,“wheretheneed[forinformation]ishighenough”even“fundamentallypoorsystemsmaybewellused”（p.5）.

Basedontheseobservations,then,whatmightbetermedaScaleofInformationRetrievalEnvironmentssuggestsitself.Ononeendofthescalethereareenvironmentsinwhichitisfarmorepainfultohaveinformationthantonothaveit;ontheotherend,theexactoppositeistrue.Whatisinterestingabouttheseextremesofthescaleisthatineithercase,atleasttheoretically,theperformanceoftheIRsystemwillnotaffecttheamountofitsusesinceintheonenoimprovementsindesignorefficiencywillenticetheusertoacquireinforma