The availability and use of computers in teaching has seen an increase in the rate of plagiarism among students because of the wide availability of electronic texts online. While computer tools that have appeared in recent years are capable of detecting simple forms of plagiarism, such as copy-paste, a number of recent research studies devoted to…

Considers some of the most fundamental problems in music information retrieval, challenging the common assumption that searching on pitch alone is likely to be satisfactory for all purposes. Discusses special issues related to polyphonic music, user-interface issues, and the notion of relevance for music information retrieval. (Contains 52…

Discussion of document ranking methods to calculate the conceptual distance between a Boolean query and a document focuses on the Knowledge-Based Extension Boolean Model which evaluates weighted queries and documents effectively and avoids problems of previous methods. Semantic networks are discussed, and is-a hierarchies are explained. (21…

Provides an overview of some of the main ideas in the philosophy of language that have relevance to the issues of information retrieval, focusing on the description of the intellectual content. Highlights include retrieval problems; recall and precision; words and meanings; context; externalism and the philosophy of language; and scaffolding and…

Examines historical and current difficulties in information retrieval, including the tendency of technology, because of the problems of scale and distribution, to make information invisible to users. Attempts to organize networked resources are described, and serendipity is proposed as a model for future retrieval. (two references) (MES)

Examines a selection of innovative search tools that attempt to solve specific problems in searching. Topics include search difficulties, including controlled vocabularies and keyword searching; retrieval issues, including relevancy ranking; document discrimination problems; creating search tools for specific audiences; and interface design,…

Describes in detail the practice of information retrieval within business organizations based on 46 interviews. Highlights include the importance of text to the performance of information work rather than technical aspects of retrieval; information management; and information retrieval problems in organizations. (LRW)

Discusses how information technology and information retrieval may be used to build the virtual library, based on examples from Carnegie-Mellon University. Topics include information technology infrastructure, including distributed computing; Boolean searching; natural language processing; navigating the Internet; and prototypes and problems at…

Examines the challenges involved in conducting an informal usability case study based on the introduction of a new information-retrieval system to experienced users. Identifies problems users were having with TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) and examines the usability of the new ZPRISE interface. (Author/LRW)

Presents a review of three major strategies for learning and information retrieval useful for learners in coping with typical problems in unstructured hypermedia. Strategies for goal attainment, spatial orientation, and knowledge acquisition are discussed, and future research on learning strategies for hypermedia is suggested. (Author/LRW)

Describes the goals of the CLEF (Cross-Language Evaluation Forum) series of evaluation campaigns for information retrieval systems operating on European languages. Examines the difficulties of organizing an activity which aims at an objective evaluation of systems running on and over a number of different languages. (Author/LRW)

Discusses vagueness as a problem of materials information system development in the context of information retrieval within the paradigm of information science. Presents a prototype which combines an object-oriented graphical user interface with natural language feedback and correction functionality, as well as intelligent components for graphical…

Discusses Alta Vista, one of the most heavily used search engines on the World Wide Web. Describes the following search term manipulations: wildcard and truncation, adjacency, Boolean, and capitalization. Notes problems due to the Internet's constant state of transition and discusses advanced search mode. (AEF)

Reviews methods of text segmentation for Chinese text retrieval systems, including single character-based approaches and multicharacter-based approaches; discusses problems of Chinese text segmentation, including morphological complexities, ambiguity of segmentation, and natural language parsing problems; and suggests further research. (Contains…

Discussion of precision in information retrieval highlights a prototype online catalog, ILSA (Improving Library Subject Access), developed at Indiana University of Pennsylvania that uses subject clusters and classification. Topics addressed include problems with keyword searching, controlled vocabulary, and thesauri; natural language mapping…