Query expansion via conceptual distance in thesaurus indexed collections

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore query expansion via conceptual distance in thesaurus indexed collectionsDesign/methodology/approachAn extract of the National Museum of Science and Industry's collections database, indexed with the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), was the dataset for the research. The system architecture and algorithms for semantic closeness and the matching function are outlined. Standalone and web interfaces are described and formative qualitative user studies are discussed. One user session is discussed in detail, together with a scenario based on a related public inquiry. Findings are set in context of the literature on thesaurus‐based query expansion. This paper discusses the potential of query expansion techniques using the semantic relationships in a faceted thesaurus.FindingsThesaurus‐assisted retrieval systems have potential for multi‐concept descriptors, permitting very precise queries and indexing. However, indexer and searcher may differ in terminology judgments and there may not be any exactly matching results. The integration of semantic closeness in the matching function permits ranked results for multi‐concept queries in thesaurus‐indexed applications. An in‐memory representation of the thesaurus semantic network allows a combination of automatic and interactive control of expansion and control of expansion on individual query terms.Originality/valueThe application of semantic expansion to browsing may be useful in interface options where thesaurus structure is hidden.

A knowledge‐based approach to Information Extraction for semantic interoperability in the archaeology domain

“…Results also clearly support the selective use of thesaurus expansion compared to All‐Available terms where Precision is concerned. Differences between the modes are fine grained but suggest that use of semantic expansion in IE may generally follow the search literature on query expansion via thesaurus relationships (reviewed in Tudhope, Binding, Blocks, & Cunliffe, ). Based on these results, the Hypernym mode delivers the best F‐measure.…”

Thesaurus enrichment for query expansion in audiovisual archives

“…The next step in this line of research would be to investigate the use of newly inferred relations in the ranking of results. We could, for example, set a 'traversal cost' for each type of relation, as in [26]. A related issue is the adaptation of the groundtruth from shot level to program level.…”

“…[9,26]). We discuss them since they form a baseline against which we can compare the performance of the inferred relations.…”

Faceted Thesauri

“…For example, associative relationships might be given a high cost but narrower relationships a low cost. For details of the algorithm, see Tudhope et al (2006a) and for more information on the project, see Tudhope and Binding (2004). Figure 1 shows a particular result (overall match of 56%) with degree of match to query terms (armchairs, brocading, mahogany, Edwardian).…”