Finding relevant documents using top ranking sentences: an evaluation of two alternative schemes

In this paper we present an evaluation of techniques that are designed to encourage web searchers to interact more with the results of a web search. Two specific techniques are examined: the presentation of sentences that highly match the searcher's query and the use of implicit evidence. Implicit evidence is evidence captured from the searcher's interaction with the retrieval results and is used to automatically update the display. Our evaluation concentrates on the effectiveness and subject perception of these techniques. The results show, with statistical significance, that the techniques are effective and efficient for information seeking. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3.3 [Information Search and Retrieval]: - search process, relevance feedback. General Terms Experimentation, Human Factors Keywords WWW, user studies, sentence extraction

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2002
• Where: SIGIR
• Authors: Ryen White, Ian Ruthven, Joemon M. Jose
• Keywords: Implicit Evidence, Information Technology, SIGIR 2002, Specific Techniques, Web Searchers