When we think about information retrieval, we tend to think about automated systems. The term information retrieval was coined by Calvin Mooers, a computer scientist, in 1950. He had early automated systems in mind when he defined it as the process by which an individual obtains a list of citations to stored documents (Mooers, 1950).
But there are many types of information retrieval systems. Borko (1968) characterizes an information system as having a collection of recorded information, retrieval procedures, designated individuals who organize and maintain the collection, and users who refer to the information to satisfy a variety of needs. Under this definition, a library is actually an information system. Within a library, bibliographic records, call numbers, and inter library loan programs are all information retrieval systems, too. Automated or computerized information systems consist of relational databases or networked databases such as the World Wide Web. They work by executing a series of user commands.
Today, what an information seeker retrieves from a system could be a citation to a document, or it could be the full text of the document. The challenges of retrieving stored information have increased with the addition of other media formats like graphics, audio, and video files. But the aim of all information systems is to be easy to use and effective in finding relevant items, thus providing good recall and precision. In future posts, I plan to delve further into relevance and recall and the various information system models.
References
Mooers, C. (1950). Application of random codes to the gathering of statistical information. Zator Company Technical Bulletin, 31. Cambridge, Mass.: Zator Company.
Borko, H. (1968). The conceptual foundations of information systems. In E. B. Montgomery (Ed.), The foundations of access to knowledge: A symposium. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press.
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2 comments:
Carol,
I like your blog. Your writing style is clear and the voice you have created is personable and interesting. It kind of reminds me of my own a little bit (heh, heh), maybe that's why I like it. Anyway, I enjoyed seeing your reference to Calvin Mooers. I came across him in doing research for our Chronology paper. He initiated the idea of user-centered information system design with an editorial in American Documentation (Bates, 1999). Mooers wrote that some retrieval systems that are technically very good are not used by people, and ones that are technically poor frequently receive more use. He stated his famous dictum, Mooers’ Law: “An information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him not to have it” (Mooers, 1960).
I like reading older articles to get a sense of the history behind Information Science, and Library Science.
Bates, M.J. (1999). A tour of information science through the pages of JASIS (1950-1999).
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(11), 975-93.
Mooers, C.N. (1960). Mooers’ law: or why some retrieval systems are used and others are not.
American Documentation, 11(3), ii.
Thank you for the compliments, Greg. Actually, I was planning to post something about Mooer's Law, and how it is sometimes taken out of context. Thanks for stopping by!
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