En. Efthimiadis, USER CHOICES - A NEW YARDSTICK FOR THE EVALUATION OF RANKING ALGORITHMS FOR INTERACTIVE QUERY EXPANSION, Information processing & management, 31(4), 1995, pp. 605-620
Citations number
24
Categorie Soggetti
Information Science & Library Science","Information Science & Library Science","Computer Science Information Systems
The performance of eight ranking algorithms was evaluated with respect
to their effectiveness in ranking terms for query expansion. The eval
uation was conducted within an investigation of interactive query expa
nsion and relevance feedback in a real operational environment. This s
tudy focuses on the identification of algorithms that most effectively
take cognizance of user preferences. User choices (i.e. the terms sel
ected by the searchers for the query expansion search) provided the ya
rdstick for the evaluation of the eight ranking algorithms. This metho
dology introduces a user-oriented approach in evaluating ranking algor
ithms for query expansion in contrast to the standard, system-oriented
approaches. Similarities in the performance of the eight algorithms a
nd the ways that these algorithms rank terms were the main focus of th
is evaluation. The findings demonstrate that the r-lohi, wpq, emim, an
d porter algorithms have similar performance in bringing good terms to
the top of a ranked list of terms for query expansion. However, furth
er evaluation of the algorithms in different (e.g. full-text) environm
ents is needed before these results can be generalized beyond the cont
ext of the present study.