In our previous posts we explored some of the challenges involved in formulating complex Boolean strings and expressions, and reviewed six of the more innovative alternative solutions. Each of these offers its own unique perspective on how to solve such problems, and their pioneering efforts provide us with a rich set of design insights and principles. In this brief… Continue reading What's wrong with Boolean strings?
Category: Feature Article
1959 – the dawn of relevance and the benefits of IR
There was a remarkable amount of interest in the publication of a belated obituary of Karen Sparck Jones in the New York Times on 9 January 2019. I was delighted to see that the University of Cambridge obituary for Karen (published at the time of her death in 2007) has now been updated with the… Continue reading 1959 – the dawn of relevance and the benefits of IR
Visualizing search strategies (part 2)
In our last post we reviewed some of the issues involved in developing effective solutions to complex search problems, and explored some of the challenges involved in formulating and representing Boolean strings and expressions. In particular, we explored the contribution of three experimental systems which aimed to offer an alternative to the conventional approach exemplified by line-by-line query builders and ‘advanced… Continue reading Visualizing search strategies (part 2)
Visualizing search strategies
According to the IDC whitepaper, The High Cost of Not Finding Information, knowledge workers spend 2.5 hours per day searching for information. Whether they eventually find what they are looking for or just stop and make a sub-optimal decision, there is a high cost to both outcomes. The recruitment industry, for example, relies on Boolean search as the… Continue reading Visualizing search strategies
Designing search: managing the information journey
In our last post, we looked at the role of metaphors and models in search, and explored one particular metaphor that was valuable for both its simplicity and utility: the chess metaphor. This simple notion helps us frame and structure the search experience in a way that allows us to better understand the stages involved,… Continue reading Designing search: managing the information journey
Designing search: models and metaphors
It’s often said that search is a conversation: a dialog between two participants that can be every bit as rich as human conversation. On one side is the user, with an information need articulated in the form of a query, and on the other side is the system, with its response in the form of… Continue reading Designing search: models and metaphors
BCS Search Industry Awards 2017
As you may recall, last year we launched the inaugural Search Industry Awards programme, which attracted nominations from across the globe and culminated in a memorable awards ceremony at Search Solutions 2016. My colleagues and I are delighted therefore to launch this year’s Search Industry Awards, celebrating the best search innovations of 2017. Presented by… Continue reading BCS Search Industry Awards 2017
IRSG Support for Events
The BCS IRSG can support events in four different ways: We can provide Sponsorship. We can provide financial support for suitable IR-related events. There are restrictions on how our money can be used due to the status of our parent body, the British Computer Society, as a British Registered Charity. For example, we can provide… Continue reading IRSG Support for Events
Call for Book Reviews (Spring 2017)
This issue we include another Call for Reviews in which we seek reviewers for a number of recently published books that may be of interest to the IR community. Books will be allocated for review on a first-come-first-served basis and you would have about one month to carry out the review. If you are interested… Continue reading Call for Book Reviews (Spring 2017)
A Case for Satellite Events in Evaluation Campaigns
Local conferences, such as TREC in North America, CLEF in Europe, and NTCIR in Asia, play a leading role in promoting information retrieval research by supporting novel campaigns and releasing datasets to share the latest research challenges. To gain access to these datasets, participants are requested to communicate their work in the form of working… Continue reading A Case for Satellite Events in Evaluation Campaigns