Synopses & Reviews
This book takes a unique approach to information retrieval by laying down the foundations for a modern algebra of information retrieval based on lattice theory. All major retrieval methods developed so far are described in detail - Boolean, Vector Space and probabilistic methods, but also Web retrieval algorithms like PageRank, HITS, and SALSA - and the author shows that they all can be treated elegantly in a unified formal way, using lattice theory as the one basic concept. Further, he also demonstrates that the lattice-based approach to information retrieval allows us to formulate new retrieval methods.
Sandor Dominich's presentation is characterized by an engineering-like approach, describing all methods and technologies with as much mathematics as needed for clarity and exactness. His readers in both computer science and mathematics will learn how one single concept can be used to understand the most important retrieval methods, to propose new ones, and also to gain new insights into retrieval modeling in general. Thus, his book is appropriate for researchers and graduate students, who will additionally benefit from the many exercises at the end of each chapter.
Review
From the reviews: "... this book offers a unique approach to the important topic of information retrieval by providing mathematical foundations based on modern algebra... I can easily recommend this book as a reference for any of the technical IR courses offered at several universities." from the ACM Reviews by Donald H. Kraft, Louisiana State University, USA "Retrieval methods and information retrieval in general are here treated in a unified manner within abstract algebraic structures ... . Each chapter is supplemented with exercises and problems (with hints to solutions in the appendix) ... . The book is beneficial both for better understanding the existing information retrieval methods and for the creation of new ones." (Antonín Ríha, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1149, 2008) "This book treats retrieval methods ... and IR in general in a unified manner within the one formal framework of modern algebra, namely abstract algebraic structures (primarily lattices). ... Exercises and problems are located at the end of every chapter ... . the book should be helpful for a wide range of readers from graduate students and educators to researchers and system developers coming from a variety of fields such as computer science ... . Every chapter concludes with a References and further reading section." (John S. Griffin, SIGACT News, Vol. 41 (1), 2010)
Synopsis
Mathematics Basics.- Elements of Lattice Theory.- Basics of Information Retrieval Technology.- Lattice-Based Retrieval Systems.- Boolean Retrieval.- Lattices of Subspaces and Projectors.- Vector Space Retrieval.- Fuzzy Algebra-Based Retrieval.- Probabilistic Retrieval.- Web Retrieval and Ranking.
Synopsis
This book takes a unique approach to information retrieval by laying down the foundations for a modern algebra of information retrieval based on lattice theory. All major retrieval methods developed so far are described in detail, along with Web retrieval algorithms, and the author shows that they all can be treated elegantly in a unified formal way, using lattice theory as the one basic concept. The book's presentation is characterized by an engineering-like approach.
About the Author
Sándor Dominich is the George Pólya Professor of Computer Science, Head of the Information Retrieval Research Group, and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology of the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. His research interests include retrieval models, formal aspects, foundations, effectiveness measurement, and applications. He authored three books, including „Mathematical Foundations of Information Retrieval" (Springer, 2001) and over seventy research papers. He is a founding co-organiser of the ACM SIGIR MF/IR Workshop series 2000-2005, and ICTIR International Conference 2007 (both together with C.J. van Rijsbergen). He has served as a programme committee member of major Information Retrieval conferences.
Table of Contents
1) Introduction - 2) Mathematical Basics - 3) Elements of Lattice Theory - 4) Basics of Information Retrieval Theory - 5) Lattice-Based Retrieval Systems - 6) Boolean Retrieval - 7) Lattices of Subspaces and Projectors - 8) Vector Space Retrieval - 9) Fuzzy Algebra-Based Retrieval - 10) Probabilistic Retrieval - 11) Web Retrieval and Ranking - Solutions to Exercises and Problems, References, Index.