Information Retrieval List Digest 135 (October 27, 1992) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-135 ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1992 10:13:23 PST Reply-To: "Information Retrieval List" Sender: "Information Retrieval List" From: IRLIST Subject: IR-L Digest, Vol.IX, No.39, Issue 135 IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 October 27, 1992 Volume IX, Number 39 Issue 135 ********************************************************** I. NOTICES A. Meeting Announcements/Calls for Papers 1. ACM-ALLC92: June 16-19, 1993, Georgetown U., Washington, DC C. Miscellaneous 1. A National Center for Research in Intelligent IR III. JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. U. Pittsburgh: Two Assistant or Associate Professors IV. PROJECT WORK C. Abstracts 1. IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts ********************************************************** I. NOTICES I.A.1. Fr: fox@fox.cs.vt.edu Re: ACM-ALLC93 Hi! On behalf of SIGIR I am trying to organize a session on information retrieval and its application to topics of interest to ACH-ALLC, in response to a request by the conference organizers. If anyone has research results that would be of interest, please contact me ASAP. Thanks, Ed Fox ........................................................................ ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES ASSOCIATION FOR LITERARY AND LINGUISTIC COMPUTING 1993 JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ACH-ALLC93 JUNE 16-19, 1993 GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C. This conference is the major forum for literary, linguistic and humanities computing. It is concerned with the development of new computing methodologies for research and teaching in the humanities, the development of significant new networked-based and computer-based resources for humanities research, and the application and evaluation of computing techniques in humanities subjects. TOPICS: We welcome submissions on topics such as text encoding; statistical methods for text analysis; hypertext; text corpora; computational lexicography; morphological, syntactic, semantic and other forms of text analysis; also, computer applications in history, philosophy, music and other humanities disciplines. For the 1993 conference, ACH and ALLC extend a special invitation to members of the library community to contribute to the conference on the topics of creating and cataloguing network-based resources in the humanities, developing and integrating databases of texts and images of works central to the humanities, and refining retrieval techniques for humanities databases. LOCATION: Georgetown, an historic residential district along the Potomac River, is a six-mile ride by taxi from Washington National Airport. International flights arrive at Dulles Airport, which offers regular bus service to the Nation's Capital. REQUIREMENTS: Proposals should describe substantial and original work. Proposals describing the development of new computing methodologies should make clear how these methodologies are applied to research and/or teaching in the humanities. Those concerned with a particular application (e.g., a study of the concerned with a particular application (e.g., a study of the style of an author) should cite previous approaches to the problem and should include some critical assessment of the computing methodologies used. All proposals should include references to important sources. ABSTRACT LENGTH: Abstracts of 1500-2000 words in length should be submitted for presentations of thirty minutes including questions. SESSION PROPOSALS: Proposals for sessions (90 minutes) are also invited. These should take the form of either: (a) Three papers. The session organizer should submit a 500-word statement describing the session topic, include abstracts of 1000-1500 words for each paper, and indicate that each author is willing to participate in the session. (b) A panel of up to 6 speakers. The panel organizer should submit an abstract of 1500-2000 words describing the panel topic, how it will be organized, the names of all the speakers, and an indication that each speaker is willing to participate in the session. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: November 1, 1992 NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE: February 1, 1993 FORMAT FOR SUBMISSIONS: Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged, and should follow strictly the format given below. Submissions that do not conform to this format will be returned to the authors for reformatting, or may not be considered if they arrive near the deadline. All submissions should include a header in the following format: TITLE: title of paper AUTHOR(S): names of authors AFFILIATION: affiliations of author(s) CONTACT ADDRESS: full postal address of main author (for contact) E-MAIL: electronic mail address of main author followed by other authors (if any) FAX NUMBER: fax for main author PHONE NUMBER: phone for main author ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS: Please submit plain ASCII text files. Files that include formatting by a wordprocessor, TAB characters, and soft hyphens are not acceptable. Paragraphs should be separated by blank lines. Headings and subheadings should be on separate lines and be numbered. References (up to six) and notes should appear at the end of the abstract. Where necessary, a simple markup scheme for accents and other characters that cannot be transmitted by electronic mail should be used; provide an explanation of the markup scheme after the title information. If diagrams are necessary for the evaluation of an electronic submission, they should be faxed to 1-202-687-6003 (after dialing submission, they should be faxed to 1-202-687-6003 (after dialing one's international access code) or 202-687-6003 (from within the US), and a note to indicate the presence of diagrams should be inserted at the beginning of the abstract. Address for electronic submissions: Neuman@GUVAX.Georgetown.edu (include a subject line " Submission for ACH-ALLC93"). PAPER SUBMISSIONS: Submissions should be typed or printed on one side of the paper only, with ample margins. Six copies should be sent to ACH-ALLC93 (Paper submission) Dr. Michael Neuman Academic Computer Center 238 Reiss Science Building Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057 PUBLICATION: A selection of papers presented at the conference will be published in the series Research in Humanities Computing edited by Susan Hockey and Nancy Ide, published by Oxford University Press. INQUIRIES Please address all inquiries to: ACH-ALLC93 Dr. Michael Neuman, Local Organizer Academic Computer Center 238 Reiss Science Building Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057 Phone: 202-687-6096 FAX: 202-687-6003 Bitnet: Neuman@Guvax Internet: Neuman@Guvax.Georgetown.edu Please include your name, full mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address with any inquiry. ********** I.C.1. Fr: Bruce Croft Re: A National Center for Research in Intelligent IR A National Center for Research in Intelligent Information Retrieval A national center has been established recently at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to conduct basic research and technology transfer in the area of information retrieval. The Center for Research in Intelligent Informational Retrieval (CIIR) is one of only four centers in science and engineering to be funded recently by the National Science Foundation under its State/Industry University Cooperative Research Centers program. The two objectives of this center are to advance the science of information retrieval and to make new information retrieval technology available to industry and government. An affiliated technology transfer corporation, ACSIOM, provides an active mechanism for embedding research in the products and services of the participating member companies. Initially, ten large corporations and small businesses representing medical, international trade, and legal domains, have joined the center. Member companies bring their information retrieval problems to the center and receive no-cost licenses to the advanced software produced. Participating companies contribute an annual membership fee and steer the direction of the center through an Industrial Advisory Board. The research at CIIR will focus on the integration of techniques from information retrieval, natural language processing, case-based reasoning, and database systems. The main faculty participating in this effort are Bruce Croft, Wendy Lehnert, Edwina Rissland, and Victor Lesser. Postdoctoral researchers, visiting researchers, programmers, and graduate students in the center will support the research and technology transfer activities. To obtain more information, contact Paul McOwen (mcowen@cs.umass.edu) at (413) 545-2475, or W. Bruce Croft (croft@cs.umass.edu) Director of CIIR, at (413) 545 0463. ********************************************************** III. JOB ANNOUNCEMENT III.1. Fr: Stephen Hirtle Re: Information Science Faculty Position, U of Pittsburgh UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Department of Information Science The Department of Information Science announces two open positions for full-time tenure track Assistant or Associate Professors, with appointments beginning Fall Term, 1993. Candidates must have a PhD in information science or a related field (e.g., computer science). Applicants will be expected to teach both graduate and undergraduate courses in two or more of the following areas: database design and management, computer graphics, human-computer interaction,information storage and retrieval, information systems design, programming languages, modeling and simulation, software engineering, telecommunications, and networking. Applicants are desired who have research interests in one or more of the following areas: scientific visualization, human-computer interaction, design of interactive systems, hypertext and hypermedia, information storage and retrieval, information systems design, database management, broadband and intelligent networks, medical informatics, and geographic information systems. The department has seventeen faculty members and offers doctoral, masters and bachelors degrees in information science and masters and doctoral degrees in telecommunications. Specialized tracks are offered in information systems design, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence/cognitive science. The department's computing facilities include a variety of workstations (Sun and Silicon Graphics) and microcomputers (IBM PCs, compatibles, and Macintoshes), all networked to a Sun 670MP server and the University system. The departmental telecommunications labs include an array of test equipment, networks, and digital PBXs. The University computer facilities include a clustered VAX9000 and other VAX machines using both VMS and Ultrix. The university subnetworks are linked by an FDDI backbone which includes such specialized resources as a Cray Y-MP supercomputer, a Connection Machine, and a graphics and CAD laboratory. The University of Pittsburgh offers a wide variety of opportunities to interact with faculty of other departments and schools including computer science, the Katz Graduate School of Business and the interdisciplinary Intelligent Systems Program. In addition, the department and university have close relations with several major corporations that are funding research and teaching. We seek applicants with balanced research and teaching interests and strongly encourage women and minority candidates to apply. Applications received by January 20, 1993 will receive full consideration. However, the positions will remain open until filled. Starting salaries range from $40,000 to $50,000; benefits and teaching schedules are highly competitive. Applicants should send a vita, a statement of research interests, any relevant reprints or preprints, and the names and addresses of three references to: Dr. James Williams, Chair, Search Committee, Department of Information Science, SLIS Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Inquiries via email may be addressed to infsci@lis.pitt.edu. The University of Pittsburgh is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. ********************************************************** IV. PROJECT WORK IV.C.1. Fr: Susanne M. Humphrey Re: Selected IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts The following are citations selected by title and abstract as being related to Information Retrieval (IR), resulting from a computer search, using BRS Information Technologies, of the Dissertation Abstracts Online database produced by University Microfilms International (UMI). Included are UMI order number, title, author, degree, year, institution; number of pages, one or more Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) subject descriptors chosen by the author, and abstract. Unless otherwise specified, paper or microform copies of dissertations may be ordered from University Microfilms International, Dissertation Copies, Post Office Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; telephone for U.S. (except Michigan, Hawaii, Alaska): 1-800-521-3042, for Canada: 1-800-268-6090. Price lists and other ordering and shipping information are in the introduction to the published DAI. An alternate source for copies is sometimes provided. Dissertation titles and abstracts contained here are published with permission of University Microfilms International, publishers of Dissertation Abstracts International (copyright by University Microfilms International), and may not be reproduced without their prior permission. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADGNN-59092. AU LU, XIN. TI AN APPLICATION OF CASE RELATIONS TO DOCUMENT RETRIEVAL. TI AN APPLICATION OF CASE RELATIONS TO DOCUMENT RETRIEVAL. IN The University of Western Ontario Ph.D. 1990, 127 pages. SO DAI V52(10), SecA, pp3464. DE Information Science. Library Science. Computer Science. IS ISBN: 0-315-59092-0. AB The purpose of this research is to design a document retrieval model which is a structural model based on case relations and to test how effectively a prototype of this model would perform retrieval on a test database. Case relations are a major component of case grammar proposed by linguistic theorists and developed in computational linguistics and natural language processing. The design of the structural retrieval model involves case relations and structured document representation, case relation-based natural language parsing and automatic structural indexing, and tree mapping and structural matching. In this model, a document is represented by a set of tree-like case frames in which the components of a natural language clause are assigned to different nodes called cases, and all nodes have pre-defined case relations to the verb of the clause. To implement such a structural representation by automatic means, an indexing engine was coded (using PROLOG) and developed which consists of a natural language parser and a case frame generator. In response to a natural language query, the prototype of the model (1) processes and converts the query into a set of case frames; (2) measures the structural closeness between the query and every document in a database through tree-mapping; and (3) presents the retrieved documents, according to their closeness to the query, in ranked order. A number of typical retrieval experiments have been designed to compare the structural model with the vector space model and the Boolean model. All of the model prototypes processed a set of thirty queries on a test database of 534 documents. The retrieval performance was measured using recall-precision graphs, averaged recall and precision, and statistical tests. The experimental results showed that the effectiveness of the structural model was barely comparable to that of the other models. The conclusions are: (1) the structural model is not more effective than other models, and (2) replications of this study are needed to further prove or disprove the usefulness of case relations in improving retrieval effectiveness. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADGNN-59119. AU WOLFRAM, DIETMAR. TI THE APPLICATION OF INFORMETRICS TO INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS DESIGN: A SIMULATION STUDY. IN The University of Western Ontario Ph.D. 1990, 228 pages. SO DAI V52(10), SecA, pp3465. DE Information Science. Computer Science. IS ISBN: 0-315-59119-6. AB The efficient design and maintenance of information retrieval systems are still important considerations, even with the current availability of faster computer hardware and cheaper secondary storage. Informetrics, the quantitative study of information and its use, could provide the systems designer and analyst with tools with which to aid in decision making for optimising system performance. This study examines how informetrics can be used to help the systems designer in deciding what types of file structures would provide the best performance for a given type of information system environment. It is hypothesized that for varying index term distributions and system term usage patterns, different file structures provide more timely access and require less space. A factorial design simulation study was carried out to examine the retrieval performance and space requirements of several types of hypothetical information retrieval systems. Performance estimates were based on simulation runs varying system parameters which included the index term distribution, the term selection relationship and number of index terms. Results under different file structures were compared using multi-way Analysis of Variance. It was found that different structures were better suited for different retrieval environments. The chained hashing structure, in most cases, provided the best retrieval performance and most economical space requirements where gradually decreasing term distributions were present. However, the proposed modified hashing structure performed better in situations where steep term distributions existed. Two variations of the BIM-tree (Balanced Implicit Multiway tree) also provided good performance where steep term distributions were encountered and where the term selection relationship favoured the retrieval of terms with larger postings lists. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADGDX-94690. AU ABDALLAH, ABDULHAKIM A. TI THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROTOTYPE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM USING A NOVEL ARCHITECTURE BASED ON PS-ALGOL. (VOLUMES I AND II). IN University of Glasgow (United Kingdom) Ph.D. 1990, 455 pages. SO DAI V52(10), SecB, pp5166. DE Physical Geography. Computer Science. AB Available from UMI in association with The British Library. This thesis is concerned with the design and implementation of a novel architecture for a geographic information system based on the use of a new database language called PS-algol, in conjunction with a hybrid database structure. The main aspects discussed within the context of this thesis are: (i) the definition of a database; (ii) the components and functions of a database management system; (iii) the features of PS-algol; (iv) the new system architecture; (v) the use of operational management system; (vi) data entry as carried out by the system; (vii) the facility for the cartographic representation of features; (viii) data retrieval and its potential use; and (ix) the generation of hard-copy output. The thesis also includes a review of existing geographical information systems against which the novelty of the new approach can be judged. ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. 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