DataLens: making a good first impression

When a database query has a large number of results, the user can only be shown one page of results at a time. One popular approach is to rank results such that the "best" results appear first. This approach is well-suited for information retrieval, and for some database queries, such as similarity queries or under-specified (or keyword) queries with known (or guessable) user preferences. However, standard database query results comprise a set of tuples, with no associated ranking. It is typical to allow users the ability to sort results on selected attributes, but no actual ranking is defined. An alternative approach is not to try to show the estimated best results on the first page, but instead to help users learn what is available in the whole result set and direct them to finding what they need. We present DataLens, a framework that: i) generates the most representative data points to display on the first page without sorting or ranking, ii) allows users to drill-down to...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: SIGMOD
• Authors: Bin Liu, H. V. Jagadish
• Keywords: Database, Database Queries, Representative Data Points, SIGMOD 2009, Similarity Queries