Presents a user modeling system for personalized interaction and tailored retrieval that tracks interactions over time, represents multiple information needs, allows for changes in information needs, acquires and updates the user model automatically, and accounts for contextual factors. Describes three models: general behavioral, personal…

Discusses access to digitized images in information retrieval and cognitive engagement with viewed images. Describes an investigation that looked at how users view images in relation to how they can be described, or categorized, and in what manner they match other images in the same collection. (Author/LRW)

Outlines four overlapping dimensions of context, including information environment level, information seeking level, IR (information retrieval) interaction level, and query level (linguistics), and discusses how they are related to various issues in IR research. Suggests further areas of research that are needed to fully understand the…

Discussion of electronic image processing focuses on the need for indexing to ensure adequate retrieval. Highlights include icons, i.e., reduced pictorial surrogates; file staging; indexing languages, including examples of thesauri; and pictorial languages, including a HyperCard system. (Contains eight references.) (LRW)

Describes a string-searching algorithm for multiple patterns in a text string; explains the construction of a pattern-matching machine; presents a theoretical analysis and empirical evidence that supports the sublinearity of the algorithm; and compares this algorithm with the Boyer-Moore algorithm for a single pattern. (Contains 10 references.)…

Introduces four articles on the development of information retrieval standards by people closely involved in the process. Standards organizations are described, addresses are given, and information sources are listed. (five references) (EA)

Compares two information retrieval systems, CLARIT and TOPIC, in terms of assigned versus derived and precoordinate versus postcoordinate indexing. Models of information retrieval systems are discussed, and a test of the systems using a demonstration database of full-text articles from the "Wall Street Journal" is described. (Contains 21…

Describes a conceptual framework for browsing based on the representation of knowledge states and documents. Topics addressed include browsing as searching without a topic; the inadequacy of bibliographic representation for scholarly work; browsing as a response to subject indeterminacy; and components of browsing activity. (Contains 34…

Report on exploratory research which investigated image attributes in a series of describing tasks. Results suggest that access to a wide range of attributes is needed to address all facets of interest and that certain classes of attributes may appear more frequently (literal objects, human form and associated attributes, color, and location).…

Discusses information retrieval in the Chinese language and describes three representation methods for texts: 1-gram or character, bigram, and short-word. Describes a study that investigated using more than one method simultaneously to improve retrieval effectiveness and considers word segmentation and costs. (Author/LRW)

Argues that Mooer's Law has been misinterpreted as concluding that users will not use information retrieval systems that are too difficult or frustrating, when in fact it addresses the reluctance to use any type of system when having information requires more effort than not having it. Proposes an expansion of Mooer's original law. (Author/LRW)

Investigates the modeling of changes in user interest in information filtering systems and develops a new technique for tracking user interest shifts based on a Bayesian approach. Presents an analytical study to establish the rate of convergence for a profile learning module with and without the user interest tracking component. (Author/LRW)

Reports on the progressive investigation of techniques for supporting interactive query reformulation in the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) Interactive Track. Highlights include methods of term suggestion; interface design to support different system functionalities; an overview of each year's TREC investigation; and relevance to the development…

Discussion of knowledge management, information retrieval, information filtering, and information evaluation focuses on knowledge evaluation and proposes some evaluation methods based on L-grammars which are fuzzy grammars. Applies these methods to the evaluation of documents in SGML and to the evaluation of pages in HTML in the World Wide Web.…

Discusses specialized search engines for information on specific topics on the Internet. Explains reasons for using specialized search engines; highlights search engines in the fields of health care, legal information, and multimedia formats; and provides Web sites that are helpful in finding other specialized search engines. (LRW)