188,000 research outputs found
User - Thesaurus Interaction in a Web-Based Database: An Evaluation of Users' Term Selection Behaviour
A major challenge faced by users during the information search and retrieval process is the selection of search terms for query formulation and expansion. Thesauri are recognised as one source of search terms which can assist users in query construction and expansion. As the number of electronic thesauri attached to information retrieval systems has grown, a range of interface facilities and features have been developed to aid users in formulating their queries. The pilot study reported here aimed to explore and evaluate how a thesaurus-enhanced search interface assisted end-users in selecting search terms. Specifically, it focused on the evaluation of users' attitudes toward both the thesaurus and its interface as tools for facilitating search term selection for query expansion. Thesaurusbased searching and browsing behaviours adopted by users while interacting with a thesaurus-enhanced search interface were also examined
Recommended from our members
Exploring combinations of sources for interaction features for document re-ranking
The behavior of the user when interacting with a result page or the corresponding landing documents is a possible source of evidence that Information Retrieval (IR) systems can ex- ploit to assist the user when searching for information. In- teraction features can be adopted as evidence to model the user behavior, thus making it usable to assist relevance pre- diction. One issue when dealing with interaction features is the selection of the sources from which these features are distilled. Individual users and group of users which perform a similar task or look for information matching the same query are possible sources. This paper will focus on these two sources, particularly investigating group of users searching for the same topic as source for interaction features to be used as an alternative to, or in combination with, indi- vidual users. The objective of this work is to investigate the impact of diverse combinations of these sources on the retrieval effectiveness, specifically when interaction features are used as evidence to support document re-ranking
Light particles - A window to fundamental physics
In these proceedings we illustrate that light, very weakly interacting
particles can arise naturally from physics which is fundamentally connected to
very high energy scales. Searching for them therefore may give us interesting
new insights into the structure of fundamental physics. Prime examples are the
axion, and more general axion-like particles, as well as hidden sector photons
and matter charged under them.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, contributed to the proceedings of Axions 2010,
January 15-17, 2010, Gainesville, Florid
Involving users in OPAC interface design: Perspective from a UK study
This is the post-print versoin of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2007 SpringerThe purpose of this study was to determine user suggestions for a typical OPAC (Online Public Library Catalogue) applicationâs functionality and features. An experiment was undertaken to find out the type of interactions features that users prefer to have in an OPAC. The study revealed that regardless of usersâ Information Technology (IT) backgrounds, their functionality expectations of OPACs are the same. However, based on usersâ previous experiences with OPACs, their requirements with respect to specific features may change. Users should be involved early in the OPAC development cycle process in order to ensure usable and functional interface
Massive ontology interface
This paper describes the Massive Ontology Interface (MOI), a web portal which facilitates interaction with a large ontology (over 200,000 concepts and 1.6M assertions) that is built automatically using OpenCyc as a backbone. The aim of the interface is to simplify interaction with the massive amounts of information and guide the user towards understanding the ontologyâs data. Using either a text or graph-based representation, users can discuss and edit the ontology. Social elements utilizing gamification techniques are included to encourage users to create and collaborate on stored knowledge as part of a web community.
An evaluation by 30 users comparing MOI with OpenCycâs original interface showed significant improvements in user understanding of the ontology, although full testing of the interfaceâs social elements lies in the future
A Search for Spectral Galaxy Pairs of Overlapping Galaxies based on Fuzzy Recognition
The Spectral Galaxy Pairs (SGPs) are defined as the composite galaxy spectra
which contain two independent redshift systems. These spectra are useful for
studying dust properties of the foreground galaxies. In this paper, a total of
165 spectra of SGPs are mined out from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data
Release 9 (DR9) using the concept of membership degree from the fuzzy set
theory particularly defined to be suitable for fuzzily identifying emission
lines. The spectra and images of this sample are classified according to the
membership degree and their image features, respectively. Many of these 2nd
redshift systems are too small or too dim to select from the SDSS images alone,
making the sample a potentially unique source of information on dust effects in
low-luminosity or low-surface-brightness galaxies that are underrepresented in
morphological pair samples. The dust extinction of the objects with high
membership degree is also estimated by Balmer decrement. Additionally, analyses
for a series of spectroscopic observations of one SGP from 165 systems indicate
that a newly star-forming region of our Milky Way might occur.Comment: 16pages, 6figure
- âŠ