REDUNDANCY, RELEVANCE, AND VALUE TO THE USER IN THE OUTPUTS OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS
| Date | 01 March 1976 |
| Published date | 01 March 1976 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026622 |
| Pages | 159-173 |
| Author | C.W. CLEVERDON,J.S. KIDD |
THE
Journal of
Documentation
VOLUME 32 NUMBER 3 SEPTEMBER 1976
REDUNDANCY, RELEVANCE, AND VALUE TO
THE USER IN THE OUTPUTS OF INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS
C. W. CLEVERDON
Cranfield Institute
of
Technology
J. S. KIDD
College
of
Library and Information
Science,
University
of Maryland
A test was carried out to investigate the assumption that there
is a
significant
level of redundancy (or notional overlap) between documents. The first
part of the paper derives
a
measure of notional
overlap,
which
is
then applied
to a test collection of 455 documents in the general subject area of computer
applications to air traffic
control.
The conclusions were that notional overlap
exists,
but there appear to be very few cases of extreme redundancy, and at
the document level, there
is
little possibility of practical application.
INTRODUCTION
TO PARAPHRASE Kuhn,1 discrepancies are often the source of new accom-
plishments in research. The present study represents an attempt to explore the
fringes of an apparent discrepancy in the operational doctrines used in information
retrieval.
Kuhn's focus of attention was on discrepancies between theoretical formula-
tions and empirical observations, but there are other kinds of discrepancies which
arise that can function in
a
similar way. There are, for example, conflicts between
alternative theoretical formulations. Such instances arise most often, perhaps, in
the social sciences. In
a
field such as information science, wherein the orientation
is generally less theoretical and more technological, paradigmatic discrepancies
are more likely to occur in the area of operational doctrine.
In this regard, a set of ideas has been collectively evolved about the operation
of information retrieval systems. Some of these ideas are quite consistent with
one another and form a coherent doctrinal set. Other such ideas are more or less
easily contained within the doctrinal paradigm only because the incompatibilities
are not particularly obtrusive or have not been explicitly analysed.
Of direct concern in this matter are the widely accepted notions regarding re-
dundancy, repetitiousness, or notional overlap on one side and the criteria we use
Journal
of
Documentation,
Vol. 32, No. 3, September 1976, pp. 159-173
159
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