Massive query resolution for rapid selective dissemination of information

Abstract

The tasks of choosing documents from a new collection and categorizing the choices, both on the basis of a body of standing queries, are known variously as selection and routing, selective dissemination of information (SDI), and information filtering. The combined operation of selecting and labeling documents naturally separates into two processes: feature scanning and query resolution. The first process examines a document for features and their locations; the second takes the findings from the first process, looks for satisfaction of combinations specified in the queries, and marks the document accordingly. When the body of queries is large, query resolution can become a significant factor in total processing speed. This paper outlines an efficient approach to performing query resolution on massive Boolean queries, suitable for implementation on a desktop computer. Algorithms are sketched in pseudo-code and experimental results are reported.