The Use of a Context-Based Information Retrieval Technique

Abstract : Since users are faced with an ever increasing amount of data, fast and effective retrieval of required information is of vital importance. This aim of this study was to examine whether the results provided by a keyword-based technique would be improved through the use of two Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) techniques. Participants were required to highlight query terms from within documents; one LSA technique utilized the sentence of the query term, and the other LSA technique utilized the entire document. A baseline technique, in which results were not re-ranked, also was used. Fifty participants were provided with a number of information retrieval questions which involved retrieving the documents that would be useful if writing a hypothetical report on a specified topic. Using a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, participants utilized a customized interface, which retrieved and ranked documents using the three different techniques. Although the re-ranking provided by the LSA techniques ordered the documents in a significantly more efficient manner, no significant differences were found in user performance with regard to accuracy, time taken, or documents accessed using the different techniques. However, individual differences did significantly influence results, most notably with regard to participants' scores on a comprehension test. This study highlights the importance of examining the impact of individual differences in any information retrieval system.