SP09Q2ANS

Spring 2009 Question 2
Relevance has been a topic of research interest in information science for more than four decades. There are two major conflicting views in the debate: the system-centered perspective vs. the user-centered perspective. In your answer, •Define what is relevance from each perspective. •Discuss the implications for information retrieval and/or the design of services from each perspective. •Propose THREE strategies to help users in finding relevant information.

Responses:
**//Define relevance. //**  • Is a judgment  • Judges match between the query (question) and the information retrieved  • Judgment is made by the user or intermediary based on examining the query and resulting information  • Is the base for information retrieval evaluation methods (recall and precision)  • Documents may be ranked by likely relevance Whether a document is relevant depends on:  • The researcher  • The situation <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0.2pt 161.3pt 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">The researcher's own knowledge and understanding of the subject <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0.2pt 161.3pt 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Also: <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0.2pt 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Proximity of query words to each other <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0.2pt 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Position of query words, such as title and headline <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Relative length of document <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.05pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.15pt;">Stemming **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Identify the distinction between relevance and pertinence. //** <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Pertinence can otherwise be thought of as "usefulness". <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Is based on the user's need rather than on the query and the judgment. <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Pertinence can differ from relevance judgments. <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Could match query but not be useful to searcher. <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Not often used in evaluation. <span style="background: white; line-height: 12.25pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tabstops: 35.3pt; text-indent: 0in;"> • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">May be used as a measure of satisfaction. **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.55pt;">System-Centered Perspective: //** • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.5pt;">What is relevance from the system-centered perspective? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.35pt;">Whatever matches the keyword(s). Results with 1 or more keywords. Ranked. • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.45pt;">What are the implications for information retrieval from this perspective? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt;">Search engine knows how to match words with documents. There's an index. • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.5pt;">Why is the notion of system-centered relevance inadequate? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt;">The system only knows what the user gives it to search for. There is no judgment. **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.55pt;">User-Centered Perspective: //** • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.5pt;">What is relevance from the user-centered perspective? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt;">What pertains to the topic of our search. • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.45pt;">What are the implications for information retrieval from this perspective? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.4pt;">User's information needs may rapidly change. Ideas for searching may be vague. • **//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.45pt;">How is relevance usually judged from a user's perspective? //**  • <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.45pt;">Gets them closer to the topic.