Describes a scalable, parallel, relational database-drive information retrieval engine. To support portability across a wide range of execution environments, all algorithms adhere to the SQL-92 standard. By incorporating relevance feedback algorithms, accuracy is enhanced over prior database-driven information retrieval efforts. Presents…

Describes a study that compared a hypertext-based bibliographic retrieval system with a traditional Boolean-based system. Results, conducted with novice and experienced searchers, revealed that the Boolean system performed better for tasks with a large number of relevant items, and that searcher experience level did not play a significant role.…

Describes a study that analyzed transaction logs of users of Excite, an Internet search service. Highlights include data on sessions (changes in queries, number of pages viewed, and relevance feedback), queries (number of search terms and the use of logic and modifiers), and terms (rank/frequency distribution); user characteristics; and failure…

Investigates the application of a relevance ranking technique, cover density ranking that is based on term proximity and cooccurrence for information retrieval on the World Wide Web that augments coordination ranking when one to three search terms are used. Compares cover density ranking with standard ranking methods and discusses implementation…

Considers a new approach to construction of single-valued measures for evaluation of search results. A general statement of the order preservation property is given, and all considered single-valued measures are analyzed for the existence of this property. Problems of legitimacy of the use of single-valued measures in various situations are…

Addresses the query- versus document-oriented dichotomy in information retrieval. Introduces a maximum likelihood approach to utilizing feedback data that can be used to construct a concrete object function that estimates both document and query parameters in accordance with all available feedback data. (AEF)

Provides an overview of current image retrieval systems. Describes the architecture of the SOFM (Self Organizing Feature Maps) based image retrieval system, discussing the system architecture and features. Introduces the Kohonen model, and describes the implementation details of SOFM computation and its learning algorithm. Presents a test example…

Discusses precision and recall in information science and proposes a new model based on fractal geometry for clusters of relevant documents. Search strategies for retrieving a group of relevant documents are reviewed; fractal sets and chaotic processes are described; and the new model is explained. (Contains 43 references.) (LRW)

Presents the Semantic Distance Model (SDM) of Relevance Assessment, a cognitive model of the relationship between semantic distance and relevance assessment. Discusses premises of the model such as the subjective nature of information and the metaphor of semantic distance. Empirical results illustrate the effects of semantic distance and semantic…

Examines the use of query reformulation and particularly the use of relevance feedback by users of the Excite Web search engine. Discusses results that show limited use of query reformulation and relevance feedback; identifies the most common pattern of searching; and discusses implications for Web search system design. (Contains 16 references.)…

Compares support vector machines (SVMs) to Rocchio, Ide regular and Ide dec-hi algorithms in information retrieval (IR) of text documents using relevancy feedback. If the preliminary search is so poor that one has to search through many documents to find at least one relevant document, then SVM is preferred. Includes nine tables. (Contains 24…

Discusses value of search results as a whole, a measure which asks for a user's rating of the usefulness of a set of search results based on a Likert scale, and suggests that this measure provides a simple way for system comparison and eliminates problems of information-retrieval evaluation with multiple measures. (Author/LRW)

Individuals influence each others' decisions about cultural products such as songs, books, and movies; but to what extent can the perception of success become a "self-fulfilling prophecy"? We have explored this question experimentally by artificially inverting the true popularity of songs in an online "music market," in which 12,207 participants…

Purpose: This paper seeks to report selective findings of a wider study to identify the mechanisms that end users employ to overcome their information seeking failure on the web. Design/methodology/approach: Data collection was conducted by semi-structured and in-depth interviews. The study adopted a qualitative approach and was carried out based…

Correct spelling is increasingly important in our technological world. We examined children's and adults' Web search behavior for easy and more difficult to spell target keywords. Grade 4 children and university students searched for the life cycle of the lemming (easy to spell target keyword) or the ptarmigan (difficult to spell target keyword).…