Page 133 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Information Analysis and Repackaging

Notes The mode of expression varies, but an enhanced capacity for informed choice, for effective
discrimination, or for cognitive control was discovered to be valued in all the discourses adduced.
Independent agreement with an emerging and rather isolated theme in information retrieval research,
of exploratory capability, offers supports for replacing the established emphasis on the delivery of
relevant records with such a principle for the design and use of information systems. In some respects,
possibly through the influence of concepts of classification and of ordinary discourse understandings,
working systems may offer exploratory capability and productive interaction. In Vico’s terms,
practical understanding has been in advance of theoretical articulation.

Evaluative Model

Endorsing the principle of enhanced capacity for informed choice can have a liberating effect, revealing
the intra-theoretic nature of many disputes within the classic tradition of information retrieval research:
it offers the possibility of a deeper understanding of relevance; enables a mutually informing relation
between practice and theory; restores man as artificer as a designer and user of information systems
rather the cipher of information retrieval research; and can enable the development of more satisfying
evaluative criteria.
Disputes over the validity of constructs demanded for retrieval system evaluation in the classic
tradition of information retrieval research, for instance whether deliberately contrived relevance
judgements are adequately correlative with real world judgements, can now be regarded as intra-
theoretic, connected with the theoretical framework imposed, not inherent in the process of
information retrieval and not necessarily contributing to an understanding of those processes.
In some respects, the construction imposed by the research paradigm may even have inhibited
development of understanding of its chosen domain of study. For instance, the methodological
need to reduced relevance to assessments, possibly open to quantification, and stable over time,
may have inhibited exploration of its many possible dimensions. Some dissenting discussions have
insisted on its complex and multi-faceted.
A mutually informing and productive relation between theory and practice can be developed. For
instance, the practical experience of those indexing procedures or retrieval algorithms which enhance
exploratory capability in specified circumstances can inform theoretical development and system
design and modification. The divorce of information retrieval research from practice has been noted
and sometimes regretted, although less often explained. Now the practical understanding embodied
in working systems can be recognised and theoretically developed.
The further question then also arises as to whether accepting the principle of exploratory capability
has practical implications in terms of the indexing procedures or algorithms for searching to be
adopted. An immediate response would be that it does not necessarily have unambiguous practical
implications: That the particular indexing procedures and algorithms to be used will be critically
dependent on the purpose and context of retrieval, including the cost of indexing and retrieval.
Crucially for continuity of systems development, techniques identical with or analogous to those
currently developed may be used to different ends. It should also be noted that the Boolean logic
used in many retrieval systems, does, under conditions, have the advantage of relative transparency
to the searcher. The objection that it is an ineffective way of transforming an information need into
a set of relevant records is no longer tenable. It could still be objected that is some applications, for
instance with heterogeneous textual material without humanly assigned index terms, it gives
inadequate control over the representations within the universe of discourse.
A deeper effect is to restore man as an artificer and to recognise the subtlety of the processes involved
information retrieval. Rather than being subjected to retrieval process beyond immediate control,
the searcher is presented with an enhanced capacity for choice and for making recalled sets. The
new, and historically unprecedented, potential for enhanced forms of knowing of existing textual
material can then productively explored. For instance, the unrivalled opportunity offered by full
text database for exploring the semantic mutability of written word forms with different contexts
can be pursued.

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