Transaction logs of a search assignment conducted by 184 third year me
dical students on UM-MEDLINE at the University of Michigan were analyz
ed. Relationship between levels of search experience on the one hand,
and search skills, clinical knowledge, search outcome, and subsequent
use level of UM-MEDLINE on the other, were examined. No relation was f
ound between search experience and search skills or clinical knowledge
. The more experienced the searcher, the better the recall performance
. Most importantly, overwhelming evidence showed that the more the sea
rcher searched, the better the chance that s/he would continue to sear
ch subsequent to the intervention of the search assignment. For the st
udent who has accrued at least 40 sessions at the time of the search a
ssignment, the odds that s/he would continue to log on 3 or more sessi
ons per month in the subsequent five months were 6.74 to 1 as compared
with those with less prior search experience. Additionally, the more
experienced searchers have an increased odds of nearly 5 to 1 in retri
eving at least one definitely relevant document Our data is derived fr
om UM-MEDLINE which uses the easy-to-use PaperChase system with no dir
ect cost to the user. There is virtually no disincentive for the use o
f this system.