Handling incrementally specified boolean queries: A comparison of inverted and signature file organizations

摘要

Most discussions of file organizations consider only completely specified queries. However, queries to information retrieval systems are often incrementally specified as a result of user interaction with the system. Organizations that are advantageous for completely specified queries are not necessarily so for incrementally specified queries (and vice versa). The issues involved in the choice of file organizations to support such incremental specification are discussed. The performance of inverted files and signature files in handling incrementally specified Boolean queries to information retrieval systems is compared.