Advice from the Oracle: Really Intelligent Information Retrieval
This work addresses the theoretical understanding of intelligence in information retrieval for researchers, but it is incremental as it builds on existing ideas without presenting new empirical results.
The paper explores the concept of intelligence in information retrieval by using a fictional Oracle to discuss human cognitive aspects, and it introduces the Statistical Factor Space method for text indexing, with plans to apply it in the Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service.
What is "intelligent" information retrieval? Essentially this is asking what is intelligence, in this article I will attempt to show some of the aspects of human intelligence, as related to information retrieval. I will do this by the device of a semi-imaginary Oracle. Every Observatory has an oracle, someone who is a distinguished scientist, has great administrative responsibilities, acts as mentor to a number of less senior people, and as trusted advisor to even the most accomplished scientists, and knows essentially everyone in the field. In an appendix I will present a brief summary of the Statistical Factor Space method for text indexing and retrieval, and indicate how it will be used in the Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service. 2018 Keywords: Personal Digital Assistant; Supervised Topic Models