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<Paper uid="W06-2806">
  <Title>Interpreting Genre Evolution on the Web: Preliminary Results</Title>
  <Section position="3" start_page="33" end_page="34" type="intro">
    <SectionTitle>
2 Previous Work
</SectionTitle>
    <Paragraph position="0"> No studies have been carried out so far on users' perception of a genre repertoire in transition.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="1"> Crowston and Williams (1997) were the first who reported on the genre repertoire on the web.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="2"> They identified 48 reproduced and emergent genres in a sample of about 1,000 web pages.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="3"> A few user studies were carried out with the more pragmatic approach of exploring the usefulness of genre to improve web searches and defining a genre palette appropriate for this purpose. The most comprehensive study related to genre effectiveness for web searching is recent. Rosso (2005) carried out a series of four linked experiments, all based on human subjects.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="4"> Quite surprisingly, the conclusion drawn by the author was that genre-annotated search results produced no significant improvement in participants' ability to make more consistent or faster assessment on the relevance of search results (Rosso, 2005: 133-179). In fact, only 17 of 32 participants reported noticing the genre label (Rosso, 2005: 176). Most probably, as pointed out by the author, this outcome was influenced by the difficulty and complexity of the task, together with the limitations of the setting (Rosso, 2005: 170-172).</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="5"> Rosso's attempt to assess the relevance of search results including genre labels was almost unique. All other studies with web users, in contrast, did not provide any assessment of how well genres improved a web search. These studies are more like surveys on users' preferences in terms of useful non-topical categories that can help restrict web searches.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="6"> Along this line, Meyer zu Eissen and Stein (2004) built a genre palette for the web using two criteria: usability and feasibility. Their user study was based on a questionnaire where they asked about search engine use, usefulness of genre classification, and usefulness of genre classes.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="7"> Interestingly, the authors note that one of the inherent problems of genre classification is that &amp;quot;even humans are not able to consistently specify the genre of a given page&amp;quot; because web pages have different functions, i.e. they might be hybrid forms, as in the case of product information sites that are combined with a shopping interface.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="8"> Roussinov et al. (2001) carried out a exploratory study of web users in order to identify what genres they most/least frequently come in contact with, and what genres most/least address their information needs. In their study, carried out in 2000, 116 different genres were identified, but not all web pages could be classified.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="9"> Karlgren (2000: 99 ff.), a pioneer in building a genre palette, tried to collect genres that were both consistent with what users expect as well as conveniently computable. He sent around a questionnaire where the core question was: &amp;quot;What genres do you feel you find on the WWW?&amp;quot;. He ended up with a palette of 11 genres. One frequent comment by the respondents was that the genres in the palette were not mutually exclusive, in other words they showed some level of hybridism.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="10"> Very informative in many respects, these studies have in common the practical aim of improving web searches. This might explain why they overlook difficult issues such as the hybridism or the individualization of many web pages, which are nonetheless perceived by the subjects. The authors must necessarily focus on  unambiguous exemplars, showing clear-cut conventions and expectations.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="11"> The present study, on the other hand, explores the perception of genres when users are faced not only with prototypical genre exemplars but also with hybrid or individualized web pages, and interpret the subjects' perception in term of genre evolution.</Paragraph>
  </Section>
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