inter and intra-document contexts applied in polyrepresentation
The principle of polyrepresentation offers a theoretical framework for handling multiple contexts in Information Retrieval (IR). This paper presents an empirical study of polyrepresentation of the information space with focus on inter and intra-document features. The Cystic Fibrosis test collection indexed in a best match system constitutes the experimental setting. Overlaps between four functionally and/or cognitively different representations are identified. Supporting the principle of polyrepresentation, results show that in general overlaps generated by three or four representations have higher precision than those generated from one or two overlaps both in structured and unstructured search mode. It is concluded that a highly structured query language is necessary when implementing the principle of polyrepresentation in a best match IR system because the principle is inherently Boolean. Finally a re-ranking test shows promising results when search results are re-ranked according to precision obtained in the overlaps.
document structure in contextual iir