Context Models For Web Search Personalization

We present our solution to the Yandex Personalized Web Search Challenge. The aim of this challenge was to use the historical search logs to personalize top-N document rankings for a set of test users. We used over 100 features extracted from user- and query-depended contexts to train neural net and tree-based learning-to-rank and regression models. Our final submission, which was a blend of several different models, achieved an NDCG@10 of 0.80476 and placed 4'th amongst the 194 teams winning 3'rd prize

Exploration of applying a theory-based user classification model to inform personalised content-based image retrieval system design

© ACM, 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published at http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2903636To better understand users and create more personalised search experiences, a number of user models have been developed, usually based on different theories or empirical data study. After developing the user models, it is important to effectively utilise them in the design, development and evaluation of search systems to improve users’ overall search experiences. However there is a lack of research has been done on the utilisation of the user models especially theory-based models, because of the challenges on the utilization methodologies when applying the model to different search systems. This paper explores and states how to apply an Information Foraging Theory (IFT) based user classification model called ISE to effectively identify user’s search characteristics and create user groups, based on an empirically-driven methodology for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems and how the preferences of different user types inform the personalized design of the CBIR systems

Searching as learning: Novel measures for information interaction research

There is growing recognition of the importance of learning as a search outcome and of the need to provide support for it. Yet, before we can consider learning as a part of search, we need to know how to assess it. This panel will focus on methods and measures for assessing learning in the context of search tasks and their outcomes. The panel will be interactive as the audience will be encouraged to engage in contributing their own experiences and ideas related to measures and methods to study learning as a part of search processes. Ideas and experiences with explicit and implicit indicators of learning and with evaluating learning outcomes will be shared during a dialogue between the audience and panelists. Outcomes from the panel discussions will contribute to formulating a research agenda for “search as learning.” The outcomes will be shared with the audience (and the wider ASIST community).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111136/1/meet14505101021.pd

A Survey on Relevance Feedback for Information Retrieval Based on User Query

Users of online web engines frequently think that it�s hard to express their requirement for information as a query. Be that as it may, if the user can distinguish cases of the sort of records they require, then they can utilize a system known as relevance feedback. Relevance feedback covers a scope of methods planned to enhance a user's inquiry and encourage recovery of information important to a user's information require. In this paper we review relevance feedback strategies. We presented both procedures, in which the framework changes the user's inquiry, and intuitive strategies, in which the user has control over question alteration. We additionally consider particular interfaces to relevance feedback frameworks and qualities of searchers that can influence the utilization and achievement of relevance feedback frameworks

Modelling Complex Relevance Spaces with Copulas

Modern relevance models consider a wide range of criteria in order to identify those documents that are expected to satisfy the user's information need. With growing dimensionality of the underlying relevance spaces the need for sophisticated score combination and estimation schemes arises. In this paper, we investigate the use of copulas, a model family from the domain of robust statistics, for the formal estimation of the probability of relevance in high-dimensional spaces. Our experiments are based on the MSLR-WEB10K and WEB30K datasets, two annotated, publicly available samples of hundreds of thousands of real Web search impressions, and suggest that copulas can significantly outperform linear combination models for high-dimensional problems. Our models achieved a performance on par with that of state-of-the-art machine learning approaches

Enhancing Classroom Instruction with Online News

Purpose Investigate how school teachers look for informational texts for their classrooms. Access to current, varied, and authentic informational texts improves learning outcomes for K-12 students, but many teachers lack resources to expand and update readings. The Web offers freely-available resources, but finding suitable ones is time-consuming. This research lays the groundwork for building tools to ease that burden. Methodology This paper reports qualitative findings from a study in two stages: (1) a set of semi-structured interviews, based on the Critical Incident Technique, eliciting teachers’ information-seeking practices and challenges; and (2) observations of teachers using a prototype teaching-oriented news search tool under a think-aloud protocol. Findings Teachers articulated different objectives and ways of using readings in their classrooms; goals and self-reported practices varied by experience level. Teachers struggled to formulate queries that are likely to return readings on specific course topics, instead searching directly for abstract topics. Experience differences did not translate into observable differences in search skill or success in the lab study. Originality and Value There is limited work on teachers’ information-seeking practices, particularly on how teachers look for texts for classroom use. This paper describes how teachers look for information in this context, setting the stage for future development and research on how to support this use case. Understanding and supporting teachers looking for information is a rich area for future research, due to the complexity of the information need and the fact that teachers are not looking for information for themselves