Freestyle vs. Boolean: A Comparison of Partial and Exact Match Retrieval Systems

Although Boolean searching has been the standard model for commercial information retrieval systems for the past three decades, natural language input and partial-match weighted retrieval have recently emerged from the laboratories to become a searching option in several well-known online systems. The purpose of this investigation is to compare the performance of one of these partial match options, LEXIS/NEXIS's Freestyle, with that of traditional Boolean retrieval. To create a context for the investigation, the definition of natural language and the natural language search engines currently available are discussed. Although the Boolean searches had better results more often than the Freestyle searches, neither mechanism demonstrated superior performance for every query. These results do not in any way prove the superiority of partial match techniques or exact match techniques, but they do suggest that different queries demand different techniques. Further study and analysis are needed to determine which elements of a query make it best suited for partial match or exact match retrieval.

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