穆斯定律英文原文Word格式.docx
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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).
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
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