Written representation of topics and the production of query terms

Renata Tagliacozzo, Dorothy Semmel and Manfred Kochen

Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 1971, vol. 22, issue 5, 337-347

Abstract: The set of different terms used to search a directory for information on a given topic varies considerably from one searcher to another. If the topic is represented by a written text, the characteristics of the text are among the variables which influence the formulation of search terms. The results of an experiment simulating a library catalog search indicated that a relation exists between the lexical content load of the text, used to define the search topic, and the number of query terms generated by a group of experimental subjects (college students). No connection was found between the content load of the text and the commonality of query term choices. Some of the properties of “popular” as opposed to “unique,” query terms were examined. Only short terms enjoyed a high level of popularity. The repeated appearance of a term in the text favored the selection of that term by a large number of searchers.

Date: 1971
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