Discussion of Internet use for information searches on health-related topics focuses on a study that examined complexity and variability of natural language in using search terms that express the concept of electronic health (e-health). Highlights include precision of retrieved information; shift in terminology; and queries using the Pub Med…

Reviews selected research on the performance of bibliographic and full-text databases. A mathematical model for clarification of the relationship between user behavior and the performance measures of recall and precision is presented. (five references) (MES)

Describes an information system interface that allows specification of uncertain queries and combines evidence about the relevance of documents to produce an overall ranking. Results of an experiment that addressed some of the cognitive aspects of such an interface are also reported. (22 references) (Author/MES)

Discussion of the interpretation of user queries in information retrieval highlights theoretical models that utilize user characteristics maintained in the form of a user profile. Various query/profile interaction models are identified, and an experiment is described that tested the relevance of retrieved documents based on various models. (29…

Reports on an empirical investigation of relationship types. User needs are back-generated from randomly selected subject headings employed in a user-oriented topical concordance. Topical relevance includes matching, paradigmatic, or syntagmatic relationships, and more. (AEF)

Describes a procedure for information retrieval testing that is based on the comparison of statistically independent methods of retrieval applied to the same database. The probability ranking principle is discussed, the statistical meaning of relevance is examined, and the methodology is illustrated on a large database of MEDLINE records. (19…

Six articles about evaluating information retrieval (IR) systems and methods are briefly described in this introduction to a special issue and some of the major problems that are encountered in evaluating interactive information retrieval are considered. (two references) (LAE)

Discusses the history of information science and its understanding of and approach to relevance; explains human categorization theory and applies it to the idea of relevance; shows that information science research is flawed because it fails to adequately explain experience; and suggests implications for future research. (17 references) (LRW)

Discussion of automatic indexing in information retrieval systems focuses on attempts to improve the indexing representation produced by the FASIT system. Concept selection and concept grouping are explained; improving disambiguation is discussed; and a retrieval experiment to test the effectiveness of the disambiguation using the cystic fibrosis…

Summarizes the best known methods of using the signature file access method as a storage structure in information retrieval in nonbusiness applications of multimedia data. The relationships between application area, type of data, and signature file organization are emphasized. Results are summarized in a selection guide. (Contains 26 references.)…

These two articles discuss search strategies and the selection of databases. The first examines database selection when recommended database indicators are changed and database names are expanded in the EasyNet system; and the second discusses multifile searching versus single file searching in terms of success rates for novice users and cost…

Discussion of relevance and the needs of the users in information retrieval focuses on a deductive object-oriented approach and suggests eight inference rules for the deduction. Highlights include characteristics of a deductive object-oriented system, database and data modeling language, implementation, and user interface. (Contains 24…

Investigates document ranking methods in thesaurus-based Boolean information retrieval systems and proposes a new thesaurus-based ranking algorithm called the Extended Relevance algorithm. Performance comparisons are made between the Extended Relevance algorithm and previous thesaurus-based ranking algorithms. (Contains 20 references.) (LRW)

Presents a tested hypothesis raised by an earlier study and confirmed that query-surrogate documents chosen from within dense interdocument structures in scaled and visualized TREC Topic document data sets increased the number of relevant documents retrieved by 26-46%. Performance of information retrieval systems on data sets for which relevant…

Compares results of traditional Boolean searching with those of Freestyle, LEXIS/NEXIS's natural language application. Study found that though the Boolean searches had better results more often, neither method demonstrated superior performance for every query, suggesting that different queries demand different techniques. Concludes that further…