The effect of granularity and order in XML element retrieval

The article presents an analysis of the effect of granularity and order in an XML encoded collection of full text journal articles. Two-hundred and eighteen sessions of searchers performing simulated work tasks in the collection have been analysed. The results show that searchers prefer to use smaller sections of the article as their source of information. In interaction sessions during which articles are assessed, however, they are to a large degree evaluated as more important than the articles’ sections and subsections.