Area Background Information retrieval focuses on identifying documents that are likely to contain information relevant to a request that is often poorly articulated. The goal is thus to find inexact answers to inexact questions, in contrast to the more firmly established pairing of question and answer that is the hallmark of classical database management systems. During the past forty years several models of information storage and retrieval systems have been developed, with no one model gaining dominance in the field. While some research progress has been made, much of the research is incremental in its results. Research in the area has been hampered by a lack of commonality and standards.
Measurement standards are either weak or undefined.
There seems to be a reluctance on the part of researchers to give the details of their work, so that others can either verify it or conduct comparable experiments. As the border between information retrieval systems and database systems blurs under the introduction of multimedia documents and more complex information needs, the need to address research standards in this field, and to provide a common set of research tools becomes ever more critical. Area References Good references to information retrieval work are relatively scarce. Two books, two journals, and two conferences come to mind. Most other textbooks are quite out of date.