An approach for implicitly detecting information needs

Searchers can have problems devising queries that accurately express their, often dynamic, information needs. In this paper we describe an adaptive approach that uses unobtrusive monitoring of interaction to help alleviate such problems and support searchers in their seeking. The approach we propose implicitly selects terms to better represent information needs, gathers evidence on potential changes in these needs, and uses this evidence to tailor the result presentation accordingly. A user evaluation of an interface implementing our approach, presented in [7], shows it can select terms that approximate current information needs and provide evidence to track changes in these needs. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3.3 [Information Search and Retrieval]: - search process, relevance feedback General Terms Theory, Design, Human Factors Keywords Information need detection, query expansion, implicit feedback

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: CIKM
• Authors: Ryen White, Joemon M. Jose, Ian Ruthven
• Keywords: CIKM 2003, Current Information Needs, Information Need, Problems Devising Queries