Our society is called on to provide more advanced information retrieval systems due to explosive growth of information. This research investigated how a searching support system that presents keywords as clues influencing user search activities. Twelve participants searched for particular information using the support system, with thinking-aloud method in an experiment. Results showed that the support system facilitate the use of new keywords. However, different results appeared depending on users' occupations; researchers of information sciences, or professional searchers of a specific domain. Analyzed data indicated that there were different effects of the searching support system on automatic and conscious processing depending on expertise area of the participants, implying fitting into the dual-process models.

Key words: searching support system, idea generation support, automatic and conscious processing, expertise on problem solving