Page 134 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 6: Information Retrieval Model and Search Strategies

More detailed evaluative criteria could be developed from the central evaluative principle of Notes
enhanced choice, partly by drawing on the understandings already developed in discussions of
classification. Yet it should be recognised that quantitative comparative measures are unlikely to
result. Once the diversity of contexts for information retrieval is recognised, the idea of a single,
generally applicable approach to system design, or a single comparative measure of system
performance, becomes severely questionable. The best outcome which can reasonably be expected
from research and from reflection on practice is a better understanding of the process of information
retrieval, which can then be used either to design better information systems or to maker more
effective use of existing systems.

Conclusion

Replacing the emphasis on the delivery of relevant records with a stress on exploratory capability or
cognitive control as a design and use principle for information retrieval can have a liberating effect. It
yields more satisfying evaluative criteria while preserving a strong continuity with previous work,
particularly in recognising the utility of developed information retrieval techniques. Theory and
practice, rather than being separate or even antagonistic, are enabled to inform each other.
The discourses, of philosophy, classification and ordinary discussion, from which the new principle
has been drawn, can be brought further to bear upon information retrieval, transforming it into a
human science and recognising its subtlety and significance. A minor, although significant, relief,
is liberation from the obligation to read work in the classic information retrieval paradigm, except
for the emerging signs of self-questioning.
The transformation advocated in this paper resembles, in some respects, a mathematical revolution
and can also be seen as an example of scientific progress. Classically fundamental transformations
of mathematics have preserved the form while modifying the interpretation; analogously,
information retrieval techniques have been preserved but adapted to a new end. More broadly, it
has been argued that a discipline exhibits the history of a true science if its earlier stages can be seen
as special cases, from the perspective of its subsequent development: in this context, the automatic
transformation of a query into a set of records can be seen as a possible support for informed choice,
valuable in certain sets of circumstances.

Information Retrieval Projects

i-logue has been involved with information retrieval projects for many years. We have worked on
numerous projects for both structured and unstructured information retrieval, that have employed
differing techniques and tools to match organisational needs.

These Projects Include

A large pharmaceutical company that was developing an automated categorisation solution to increase
the quality and productivity of research groups.
A multinational governmental group working to integrate a large contingency planning database
within an extranet environment to improve planning accuracy and response time.
A government department integrating enterprise search and taxonomy based categorisation of policy,
regulatory and practice information into their intranet to enhance engineering problem resolution.
A multinational market research company delivering near real-time data analysis to major clients
through web based reporting tools on their global extranet to improve the quality and currency of
the information available to their clients.

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