Classifying Web Genres in Context: A Case Study Documenting the Web Genres Used by a Software Engineer

This case study analyzes the Internet-based resources that a software engineer uses in his daily work. Methodologically,we studied the web browser history of the participant, classifying all the web pages he had seen over a period of 12 days
into web genres. We interviewed him before and after the analysis of the web browser history. In the first interview, he
spoke about his general information behavior; in the second, he commented on each web genre, explaining why and
how he used them. As a result, three approaches allow us to describe the set of 23 web genres obtained: (a) the purposes
they serve for the participant; (b) the role they play in the various work and search phases; (c) and the way they are used in
combination with each other. Further observations concern the way the participant assesses quality of web-based
resources, and his information behavior as a software engineer.