The SMART and SIRE experimental retrieval systems

This chapter deals with analysis, file organization, search, and retrieval metho­ dologies that may be used with the advanced information retrieval systems of the future. The SMART system is perhaps the best known of the experimental systems that are not based on a standard inverted file technology. The SMART system design is described in detail in this chapter, including the automatic in­ dexing methods, the clustered file organization, which collects related records into common classes; and the interactive search process which is used to con­ struct improved query formulations based on relevance information supplied by the users to the system. Various other experimental retrieval systems, including SIRE, also utilize novel features that are not common in conventional retrieval. Some of these extensions are examined at the end of this chapter. The use of local clustering methods and the incorporation of weighted terms in Boolean retrieval are con­ sidered in this connection together with additional user feedback and query re­ formulation methods.