Establishing user needs for an online video retrieval system

Individuals now have the ability to effectively access information such as images, audio and video over the Internet. However, it has been only recently that researchers have been able to dedicate themselves to establishing techniques for coping with the retrieval of these multidimensional non-textual documents. This work examines some of the current work in the field of video retrieval and attempts to point out the importance of user needs analysis in retrieving video online. This study, through nine end-user interviews, takes a first step in providing information that designers can use in developing video retrieval systems. The results clearly indicate that there is a large need for video in many fields, and that there are common themes in the user needs within particular disciplines. Participants in this study wanted to express their queries in words, but needed to view stills and video clips when reviewing the results of their searches