Due to the popularity of 3D graphics in animation and games, usage of 3D geometry deformable models increases dramatically. Despite their growing importance, these models are difficult and time consuming to build. A distance learning system for the construction of these models could greatly facilitate students to learn and practice at different…

This dissertation studies information extraction (IE), the problem of extracting structured information from unstructured data. Example IE tasks include extracting person names from news articles, product information from e-commerce Web pages, street addresses from emails, and names of emerging music bands from blogs. IE is all increasingly…

An unprecedented amount of information encompassing almost every facet of human activities across the world is generated daily in the form of zeros and ones, and that is often the only form in which such information is recorded. A good fraction of this information needs to be preserved for periods of time ranging from a few years to centuries.…

Introduces this special issue on the theory and foundations of information retrieval by discussing the growth of non-library items, the issues of speed and precision in automated retrieval, the differences between document and data retrieval, the scope and foundations of information retrieval, and the future of the field. (JD)

Entropies of surrogates such as citations, abstracts, first paragraphs, last paragraphs, and first and last paragraphs are measures of how well each class of surrogates predicts relevancy of documents. They are measures of meaningful information in the text of surrogates. Such measures of information are important to information system designers.…

Understanding of the communications process centers generally around the conduct of the process rather than the content, and particularly the establishment of communication channels. The communications model has three generally agreed upon components: source, channel, and destination. Destination may include questions about the nature of things,…

A hypothetical methodology is presented for measuring retrieval effectiveness by using the personal utility, based on a user's subjective evaluation, of a retrieval system's output. Because the methodology is impractical, compromise methods are outlined and their underlying assumptions, which can serve as criteria for formulating appropriate…

Deals with the relationship between a theory of indexing and a theory of information storage and retrieval. Attention is directed to the view that indexing is an order increasing operation, and some thermodynamic notions are invoked to aid in this description. (MF)

This paper identifies the need for a new theory of information and develops a mathematical model which distinguishes between: (1) data, as directly observable facts; (2) information, as structured collections of data; and (3) knowledge, as methods of using information. The model is based on the ideas of the binary relational model and uses the…

In a document retrieval, or other pattern matching environment where stored entities (documents) are compared with each other, or with incoming patterns (search requests), it appears that the best indexing (property) space is one where each entity lies as far away from the others as possible; that is, retrieval performance correlates inversely…

Present day shortcomings in information retrieval are the results of a failure to properly contend with the problem of data representation. The index provides the necessary linkage between a multiplicity of sources and a single receiver. Whether considering the source/document-space interface or the query/index interface, the elements of the…

Presents the "Evidence-of-Existence" information system in which the structure is developed, with application of cybernetic concepts, as an isomorphic model in analogy to the system structure of communication technology. Three criteria of structuring are postulated: (1) source-channel-sink, with input-output characteristics, (2) filter-type…

The personal literature search of a scientist is strongly governed by subjective influences. If he delegates his query, he must be aware of the problems emanating from this subjectivity. The information scientist, on the other hand, must consider the subjective character of the fundamental notions of information and order. (33 references)…

Responds to W. S. Cooper's article on utility-theoretic indexing (Journal of the American Society for Information Science, v29 n3) and posits that the method's claim to predictive success rests solely on its appeal to the consequences of decisions. (FM)

Answers Patrick Wilson's criticism of the theory of utility-theoretic indexing (Journal of the American Society for Information Science, v30 n3) and defends the theory on the basis of its analytic capability. (FM)