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The design and implementation of an intelligent interface for information retrieval
Abstract
Commercial information (text) retrieval systems have been available since the early 1960's. While they have provided a service allowing individuals to find useful documents out of the millions of documents contained in online databases, there are, a number of problems that prevent the user from being more effective. The primary problems are an inadequate means for specifying information needs, a single way of responding to all users and their information needs, and an inadequate user interface. This thesis describes the design and implementation of I$\sp3$R, an intelligent interface for information retrieval the purpose of which is to overcome the limitations of current information retrieval systems by providing multiple ways of assisting the user to precisely specify his information need and to search for information. The system organization is based on a blackboard architecture and consists of a number of "experts" that work cooperatively to assist the user. The operation of the experts is coordinated by a control expert that makes its decisions based on a plan derived from the analysis of human search intermediaries, end user dialogues, and user model. The experts provide multiple formal search strategies, the use and collection of domain knowledge, and browsing assistance. The operation of the system is demonstrated by four scenarios.
Subject Area
Computer science|Library science|Information Systems|Artificial intelligence
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Roger Howard, "The design and implementation of an intelligent interface for information retrieval" (1989). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8917411.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8917411