Interactive Information Seeking, Behaviour and Retrieval

Citation

Bitso, C. (2012), "Interactive Information Seeking, Behaviour and Retrieval", The Electronic Library, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 875-876. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211282208

This book is a transcendent enumeration from classical to contemporary aspects of information retrieval, information‐seeking and information behaviour. It has thirteen chapters edited and contributed by prominent scholars in human information behaviour including information needs, information searching, information‐seeking and information retrieval. It is a systematic read encapsulating crucial factors for effective information retrieval such as the underlying information‐seeking and retrieval models (chapter 2 – Wang) and concepts of task and relevance in information retrieval (chapter 3 – Toms); information representation (chapter 5 – Smucker); techniques (chapter 9 – White) and interfaces for information retrieval (chapter 8 – Wilson and Max); and research approaches for information interaction (chapter 4 – Fidel) as well as evaluation of information retrieval systems (chapter 7 – Järvelin).

The book begins with a classical historical overview of human interactive information retrieval (chapter 1 – Cool and Belkin). It elaborates on some access models that have been used in information retrieval systems such as Boolean, vector space, probabilistic and linguistic models (Chapter 6 – Rasmussen). Contemporary aspects of information retrieval appear in chapter 8 (Wilson and Max) on interfaces for information retrieval. This chapter provides a synopsis of various interfaces such as Google and Dialogue‐style systems and includes screen shots and figures for illustrations. It explains modern search interfaces and their features for input, control, information and personalisation. Chapter 9 (White) discusses interactive techniques with emphasis on a query‐centric model of information seeking. “Relevance” is a central concept in information retrieval, thus it is not surprising to find it in several chapters. For instance, while chapters 2 and 6 discuss aspects of relevance and relevance feedback respectively, chapter 9 advances the discussion on relevance by focusing on explicit and implicit relevance feedback and the nature of relevance judgments. The chapter also outlines user support systems for creating queries, making decisions and judging relevance in interactive information retrieval.

More contemporary aspects of information retrieval appear in chapters 10 – 13. For instance chapter 10 (Teevan and Dumais) is on web retrieval, ranking and personalisation, in which the authors explain possible strategies for web information retrieval in view of its large‐scale content. These strategies include ranking on the web, interacting with web results and personalising search experiences. This chapter briefly foreshadows Web searching. Chapter 11 (Nichols and Twidale) is on recommendation, collaboration and social search and discusses the design of information retrieval systems based on users' recommendations, annotations, implicit and explicit rankings. Chapters 12 (Liu, Little and Rüger) and 13 (Little, Brown and Rüger) are on multimedia information retrieval, reminding us of the importance for systems to include non‐textual objects such as images and sound.

Although the book is an informative read covering a wide continuum of information retrieval with a human and systems focus, it is a bit advanced to serve as a textbook for undergraduates, especially when compared to a book such as Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments by Iris Xie (IGI Global, 2008). However, given its ability to draw on the user‐centered and system‐centered dimensions of information retrieval, from classical to contemporary, as well as its impressive reference list, it can definitely provide valuable theoretical insights for masters and doctoral students. It is therefore recommended for lecturers, senior students and as a good read for practitioners in information retrieval systems.