Reviews past research on user-satisfaction and relevance information systems. Describes an experiment that compares user-satisfaction with retrieved items and the retrieval process with the relevance of the items in resolving user information needs. Results indicate a connection exists between relevance and user-satisfaction with the retrieved…

Discussion of evaluation methodology in information retrieval focuses on the average precision over a set of fixed recall values in an effort to evaluate the retrieval effectiveness of a search algorithm. Highlights include a review of traditional evaluation methodology with examples; and a statistical inference methodology called bootstrap.…

This study develops an integrated conceptual representation scheme for multimedia documents that are viewed to comprise an object-oriented database; the necessary abstractions for the conceptual model and extensions to the relational model used as the search structure; a retrieval model that includes associative, semantic and media-specific…

Presents the human evaluation of ILIAD, a program for machine-aided indexing that was designed to assist expert librarians in computer-aided indexing and document analysis. Topics include controlled indexing and free indexing; natural language and concept-based information retrieval; evaluation methodology; syntactic variations; and a comparison…

Discusses a list of characteristics (dimensions) that are crucial for data model quality. Fourteen quality dimensions are singled out and organized in six categories: content, scope, level of detail, composition, consistency, and reaction to change. Two types of correlations among dimensions called "reinforcements" and…

Highlights semantic links and shows how the semantic content of hypertext links can be used for information retrieval. Discussion includes indexing and retrieval algorithms that exploit link content and node content; retrieval strategies exploiting semantic links, including conventional retrieval and constrained spreading activation techniques;…

Examines the knowledge base of an intermediary expert system that provides advice about search term selection. Topics include a proposal for an integrated approach, including an option focusing on terminological attributes based on knowledge acquired from professional searchers; and the content of the knowledge base and the research needed to…

Proposes an information retrieval system based on a hybrid model consisting of an inductive learning and neural network system. Evaluates the system's responses to incomplete queries and inconsistent indexing. Query terms, discriminant descriptors, and the American Documentation Institute's query and document titles used in the evaluation are…

Describes a software tool that deciphers abbreviations by finding whole-word equivalents or "disabbreviations." Presents results of experimental studies that test the tool's disabbreviation of technical text in computer programs. Findings show that the prototype tool is easy to use, finds correct disabbreviations, improves text…

Examines central issues in the application of logic to information retrieval (IR). Discusses the logical relationship between document and need; implications of models based on truth, validity, or logical consequentiality, and the relationship between this issue and the issue of partiality versus totality of information; and the relationship…

Presents an overview of the second Text Retrieval Conference (TREC-2), an opinion paper about the program, and nine papers by participants that show a range of techniques used in TREC. Topics include traditional text retrieval and information technology, efficiency, the use of language processing techniques, unusual approaches to text retrieval,…

The Latent Semantic Indexing and MatchPlus systems examine similar contexts in which words appear and create representational models that capture the similarity of meaning of terms and then use the representation for retrieval. Text Retrieval Conference experiments using these systems demonstrate the computational feasibility of using…

Reports on two studies in the second Text Retrieval Conference (TREC-2) program that investigated the effect on retrieval performance of combination of multiple representations of TREC topics. Six methods of query combinations and the combination of the same queries on different databases are examined. Results show that combining evidence from…

Monotonic logic requires reexamination of the entire logic string when there is a contradiction. Nonmonotonic logic allows the user to withdraw conclusions in the face of contradiction without harm to the logic string, which has considerable application to the field of information searching. Artificial intelligence models and neural networks based…

Provides an overview of HYTREM (Hybrid Text-Retrieval Machine), a high-performance, cost-effective text-retrieval machine that handles information in large textual databases. Describes HYTREM's software and hardware design principles and presents an evaluation of system performance in relation to user demand and access versus system capacity. (JMV)