Comparison between Ad-hoc Retrieval and Filtering Retrieval Using Arabic Documents

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study the process of examining documents by computing comparisons between the representation of the information need (the queries) and the representations of the documents. Also, we will automate the process of representing information needs as user profiles by computing the comparison between the user profile and the representations of the documents. We consider an automated process to be successful when it produces results similar to those produced by human comparison of the documents themselves with actual information need. Thus, we will compare ad-hoc retrieval and filtering retrieval tasks and examine the differences between them in terms of the information retrieval process. We have selected 242 Arabic abstracts that were used by Hmeidi [7]. All these abstracts involve computer science and information systems. We have also designed and built a system to compare two different retrieval tasks: ad-hoc retrieval and filtering retrieval. Here, we define ad-hoc and filtering retrieval systems and illustrate the development strategy for each one. We compare the two tasks on the basis of recall/precision evaluation, system usability, domain search, ranking, construction complexity, and methodology. From this experiment, we conclude that ad-hoc retrieval gives better performance than filtering retrieval. We also consider the advantages of using filtering services in the information retrieval process.