The growing use of machine learning for the data-driven study of social issues and the implementation of data-driven decision processes has required researchers to re-examine the often implicit assumption that datadriven models are neutral and free of biases. The careful examination of machine-learned models has identified examples of how existing…

Question classification is a key point in many applications, such as Question Answering (QA, e.g., Yahoo! Answers), Information Retrieval (IR, e.g., Google search engine), and E-learning systems (e.g., Bloom's tax. classifiers). This paper aims to carry out a systematic review of the literature on automatic question classifiers and the technology…

In this thesis, we study the importance of background knowledge in relation extraction systems. We not only demonstrate the benefits of leveraging background knowledge to improve the systems' performance but also propose a principled framework that allows one to effectively incorporate knowledge into statistical machine learning models for…

Evaluates the current state of natural language processing information retrieval systems from the user's point of view, focusing on the structure and components of the systems' help mechanisms. Topics include user/system interaction; semantic parsing; syntactic parsing; semantic mapping; and concept matching. (Author/LRW)

Natural language processing (NLP) is concerned with getting computers to do useful things with natural language. Major applications include machine translation, text generation, information retrieval, and natural language interfaces. Reviews important developments since 1987 that have led to advances in NLP; current NLP applications; and problems…

The 12th iteration of the International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2019) is organized under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society in Montreal, Canada. The theme of this year's conference is EDM in Open-Ended Domains. As EDM has matured it has increasingly been applied to open-ended and ill-defined tasks…

Focuses on natural language processing (NLP) in information retrieval. Defines the seven levels at which people extract meaning from text/spoken language. Discusses the stages of information processing; how an information retrieval system works; advantages to adding full NLP to information retrieval systems; and common problems with information…

Provides an overview of digital libraries research, practice, and literature. Highlights include new technologies; redefining roles; historical background; trends; creating digital content, including conversion; metadata; organizing digital resources; services; access; information retrieval; searching; natural language processing; visualization;…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…