CS5604, Unit RR

Edward A. Fox
Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061-0106

Abstract:

Modern advanced retrieval systems have two main features that users find particularly useful, which are not found in Boolean or string-matching type systems. First, they attempt to rank results so that those most likely to be relevant are seen soonest. Second, they learn about the users' interest through a type of feedback mechanism.

In this Unit we explore ranking and feedback, and discuss the underlying issues in terms of weighting methods, similarity measures, query expansion and screening approaches. Data structures, algorithms, implementation guidelines, and experimental results are given.

This Unit has two chapters, one article (with about 3-4 pages of relevant content) and two exercises. The 9/22, 9/27, and 9/29 classes relate to this topic, and the lab on 10/18 will illustrate some of the key ideas.

fox@cs.vt.edu
Thu Oct 27 01:30:52 EDT 1994