Empirical study on subject-based information retrieval with special reference to Bengali documents

Abstract

This study has been conducted to examine users’ views regarding retrieving Bengali documents using subject headings and also examines users’ views of subject access, revealing issues with retrieving Bengali documents by subject in online public access catalogue. A stratified sampling method was used in the investigation. The results indicated that subject headings do not provide a good search experience. Although keyword search performs better, due to search redundancy, it is difficult to retrieve needed documents in the shortest time. It has been suggested that relevant insertions to use controlled vocabulary be included in the OPAC interface to meet the needs of new-age users.