CANSEARCH: An expert systems approach to document retrieval

摘要

This paper concerns the provision of a computerized intermediary system to facilitate online document retrieval from large-scale data bases directly by users of the retrieved information. The system does not require the user to be knowledgeable or undergo any training in the use of the underlying retrieval system. The scope for a novel intermediary system relating to recent developments in expert systems has been identified and a system entitled CANSEARCH designed to enable doctors to specify queries to retrieve cancer-therapy-related documents stored in the MEDLINE data base. The design of the intermediary system uses the principle of search space abstraction, employing menu selection from a touch terminal and encapsulating the necessary intermediary expertise using rule-based techniques programmed in PROLOG. CANSEARCH performed well enough to justify the approach taken, suggesting that further development of CANSEARCH and of intermediary systems for document retrieval in other subject areas should be undertaken.