Free Text Retrieval System Research Articles

The ELINOR Electronic Library System

The ELINOR electronic library system is a well integrated, fully functioning system implemented at De Montfort University in 1993. The system currently contains the full contents of some 35 000‐page course materials assisting the teaching and learning of one undergraduate course. The core software for the system is PixTex/EFS, a free text retrieval system with well integrated imaging functions. A usage statistics collection and management subsystem and a printing control subsystem were developed in‐house later for copyright management and other management purposes. This paper presents the various aspects of the ELINOR electronic library system including its database, browsing, searching, printing, document capturing, managing, architecture, the user aspect, and the pros and cons of the system.

Hypermedia and free text retrieval

This paper discusses aspects of multimedia document bases and how access to documents held on a computer-based system can be achieved; in particular, the current access methods of hypermedia and free text information retrieval are discussed. Browsing-based hypermedia systems provide ease of use for novice users and equal access to any media; however, they typically perform poorly with very large document bases. In contrast, query-based free text retrieval systems are typically designed to work with very large document bases, but have very poor multimedia capabilities. This paper presents a hybrid between these two traditional fields of information retrieval, together with a technique for using contextual information to provide access, through query, to documents that cannot be accessed by content (e.g., images). Two experiments are then presented that were carried out to test this approach. Finally, the paper gives a brief discussion of a prototype implementation, which provides access to mixed media information by query or browsing, and user-interface issues are discussed.

Developments in free text retrieval systems

Developments in free text retrieval systems

The effectiveness of stemming for natural-language access to Slovene textual data

There have been several studies of the use of stemming algorithms for conflating morphological variants in free-text retrieval systems. Comparison of stemmed and nonconflated searches suggests that there are no significant increases in the effectiveness of retrieval when stemming is applied to English-language documents and queries. This article reports the use of stemming on Slovene-language documents and queries, and demonstrates that the use of an appropriate stemming algorithm results in a large, and statistically significant, increase in retrieval effectiveness when compared with nonconflated processing; similar comments apply to the use of manual, right-hand truncation. A comparison is made with stemming of English versions of the same documents and queries and it is concluded that the effectiveness of a stemming algorithm is determined by the morphological complexity of the language that it is designed to process. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Processing of Documents and Queries in a Slovene Language Free Text Retrieval System

Processing of Documents and Queries in a Slovene Language Free Text Retrieval System

STATUS with IQ — escaping from the boolean straitjacket

STATUS with IQ is a free text retrieval system which invites the user to enter a query either by specifying search terms which reflect concepts relative to the user's information need or by describing that need in natural language. IQ responds by producing an objectively ranked list of those documents which will be most helpful to the inquirer, there being no requirement that any particular search term be present unless this has been made a precondition. In addition, it provides the user with detailed statistical information showing the extent to which each retrieved document contains the various search terms. These details provide valuable additional guidance regarding the information content of the retrieved documents.

A PC-based free text retrieval system for health care providers. Design and development.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and development of the Clinical Practice Library of Medicine (CPLM). CPLM is an investigational project aimed at providing health care practitioners with critical in-depth information similar to that obtained from a medical reference library or consultant. When used in conjunction with the physician's knowledge, CPLM can provide valuable diagnostic prompting information to assist in rapidly reaching a suitable diagnosis for timely administration of appropriate treatment. This system may also be used to assist paramedical professionals working in remote areas where other expert medical assistance may not be available.

Legal expert systems: Words, words words … ?

Some special features of the legal domain which affect the development of expert systems are examined, including: why ‘ready made rules’ are a problem, not an answer; the relationship between prescriptive laws and legal source materials; ‘rules’ of interpretation of statutes are not meta-rules; ‘precedents’ of case-law cannot always be treated as rules; the need for access to legal source materials; the relevance of ‘deep’ or causal models to the legal domain; reasons why lawyers must play the main role in developing legal expert systems. DATALEX, a joint research project by the authors which commenced in 1986, is outlined. Its main aims are: (i) to develop a shell which integrates a number of inferencing techniques in a consistent environment, and is itself integrated with a free text retrieval system. The shell, LES (Legal Expert System), includes decision network and nearest neighbour discriminant analysis modules; other inferencing modules are being added; and a free-text retrieval system, AIRS, is being integrated with LES. (ii) to use this shell, and to encourage others to use it, to develop a range of knowledge-based applications in different areas of Australian law. Applications as yet concern intestacy, copyright, the finding of chattels, and other areas of law. (iii) to use these applications as a teaching resource to encourage interest in and understanding of knowledge-based techniques and their potential by Australian lawyers.This 1987 paper was the first paper published about the DataLex Project, which ran from 1985-1995.