November 2009INIS Training Seminar1 INIS Training Seminar November 2009 Information Retrieval and Query Formulation Christine Krieger-Levine Content Management Group INIS Unit, INIS&NKM Section, IAEA

November 2009INIS Training Seminar2 Information Retrieval  Planning a Search  Composing a Search  Formulating a Query  Translate keywords in precise search terms  Data Base Fields  Search Syntax (understand search tools)  Reviewing and Evaluating  Search Strategy  Refining the Request  Combining Queries  Using the Search Results

November 2009INIS Training Seminar3 Planning a Search Develop your search query prior to searching! u Define the information you are seeking u Identify the different concepts

November 2009INIS Training Seminar4 Planning a Search: Example u Topic: IAEA information on HLW management published after 2005  Concept A: waste management  Concept B: high-level waste  Concept C: IAEA  Concept D: >2005

November 2009INIS Training Seminar5 Formulating a Query Translate keywords in precise search terms considering various ways to express a concept (synonymous search terms like plurals, alternative ways of spelling, acronyms, etc.)  Concept A: manag*, vitrification  Concept B: high-level waste*, HLW  Concept C: IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency  Concept D: >2005

November 2009INIS Training Seminar6 Formulating a Query Searching in specific fields INIS Data Base Fields u Numerical u Free Text u Controlled Vocabulary

November 2009INIS Training Seminar7 Formulating a Query INIS Data Base Fields  Numerical  Year of publication (PY)  Reference Number (RN)  Free Text  Title (TI)  Authors (AU)  Source (SO)  Abstract (AB)

November 2009INIS Training Seminar8 Formulating a Query INIS Data Base Fields  Controlled Vocabulary  Language (LA)  Country of Input (CO)  Descriptors (DE)  Indexer-assigned descriptors (DEI)  Computer-upposted descriptors (DEC)

November 2009INIS Training Seminar9 Formulating a Query Searching in INIS Data Base Fields: example  high-level radioactive wastes in DE  IAEA in SO  PY>2005

November 2009INIS Training Seminar10 Formulating a Query Search Syntax  Boolean Operators  OR, AND, NOT  Text Operators  any (includes any), all (includes all), in order, phrase (BASIS+)  with, near (WinSPIRS)  Numeric Operators  equal, more, less, more or equal, less or equal  Truncation, Wildcard  *, ?

November 2009INIS Training Seminar11 Formulating a Query Apply basic search logic: example  manag* in any field OR vitrification in any field AND  high-level waste* high-level radioactive wastes  high-level waste* in any field OR HLW in any field OR high-level radioactive wastes in DE AND International Atomic Energy Agency  IAEA in SO OR International Atomic Energy Agency in SO AND  PY >2005

November 2009INIS Training Seminar12 Formulating a Query Connection of search terms OperationBASIS+WinSPIRS value in text field ‘text’‘text’ in any of values in text field any ‘text1’, ‘text2’ (‘text1’ OR ‘text2’) in all of values in text field all ‘text1’, ‘text2’ (‘text1’ AND text2’) in exact phrase match ph ‘text’‘text’ in query1 and query2#1 AND #2 query1 or query2#1 OR #2 query1 not query2#1 NOT #2

November 2009INIS Training Seminar13 Reviewing and Evaluating u Precision – number of relevant documents retrieved divided by total number of retrieved documents u Recall – number of relevant documents retrieved divided by total number of relevant documents contained in the DB u Ideal – high precision and high recall (all and only relevant documents retrieved) u Optimum – practical balance between precision and recall

November 2009INIS Training Seminar14 Search Strategy Refining the Request u Start with a broader search and narrow it down if necessary u Start with simple queries and combine them to be more specific u Explore various ways for search u Save the query for future reference

November 2009INIS Training Seminar15 Combining Queries  Queries referenced by numbers preceded by # sign  Boolean operators (OR, AND, NOT)  AND and NOT limit search results  OR complements search results  Brackets used to avoid ambiguity

November 2009INIS Training Seminar16 Descriptor Search u Concept oriented search u Higher focus on the subject u Higher precision u Details may be missed u Recall may suffer

November 2009INIS Training Seminar17 Using the Search Results  Storing query  run/delete query  notification  query  Selecting relevant records  select format  printing  saving  Downloading and/or ordering original documents

November 2009INIS Training Seminar18 Objective oriented retrieval strategies  PRECISION  Search by descriptors  Complement by free-text search  RECALL  Search across all fields  Use related terms in descriptors  Use OR rather than AND in queries  OPTIMUM  Use your judgement – any combination of mentioned above  Limit using a variety of free text statements

November 2009INIS Training Seminar19 Information Retrieval On-line Help, Manuals, etc.  WinSPIRS  On-line Help: Search Syntax and INIS specific Guide  WinSPIRS User’s Manual  Internet  On-line Help: Tool Tips  User Manual (En, Jp)  Tutorial  Quick Reference Guide (Ar, En, Ja, Pt, Es)  INIS Glossary  Search Assistance