Welcome to a new issue of Informer! Has it really been 7 years since we relaunched Informer? Then this must in fact be Editorial number 29 … it feels like it was just twenty minutes ago that I wrote the first one. Time flies when you are getting old. So perhaps it’s time to step down and leave the stage for some fresh blood. And that’s exactly what I am doing now …
Oh well, before I do I should tell you what we have on offer this time round. Plenty of new (or newly spotted) talent. Let’s start with one of the key figures when it comes to the area of enterprise search, but someone who we never managed to recruit as a contributor. Well, hold tight, all change, here we go: Martin White tells us all about the importance of the year 1959 — a milestone of a year when it comes to the concept of relevance in information retrieval as it turns out.
Next up is Natasha Chowdory, welcome! Ever wondered how systematic reviews are actually compiled and what the daily life of an expert looks like who explores clinical evidence by sifting through massive amounts of information? Well, the wait is over. Natasha tells us all about it. Without giving too much away, I can tell you it involves a lot of ANDs and/or ORs or should I say ORs or/and ANDs. Either way, I guess you either love it or hate it. Natasha clearly loves it.
If your appetite for Boolean search is still strong, then I recommend you do not skip Tony’s piece on this topic. You could say that Tony is Mister Boolean himself but you would be wrong as he is Professor Boolean! More good news: Tony will feature again in another article further down …
After providing an excellent review of ECIR 2018 we managed to get Parth Mehta back in the studio to write up another detailed conference review, this time he tells us all about FIRE 2018, the annual information retrieval evaluation campaign that takes place in India with strong backing by SIGIR. The next conference is already in preparation and will be in Kolkata …
Do we have even more to offer? We do indeed! Amit Kumar Jaiswal summarises Search Solutions 2018 in his own words. Thanks a lot for that!
Finally, we should thank Andy again for a comprehensive list of search-related events. Plenty of options to choose from! Perhaps see you at CHIIR 2019 in Glasgow next month or at ECIR 2019 in Cologne, both places that should offer strong and stable drinking cultures and corresponding establishments (which are most suitable to discuss recent advances in information retrieval I hasten to add).
Well, enjoy the winter, and don’t forget: Bratwurst means Bratwurst!