Boolean searching dynasty or dinosaur?

Abstract

have addressed the question of whether Boolean-based methods are adequate for current text retrieval needs. After defining information retrieval (IR) broadly and in the narrower sense of text retrieval, I have discussed the fundamentals of Boolean searching. 1 have presented an historical overview of the development of twentieth century logic and its contribution to information technology and IR. I have discussed the use of test collections, along with the standard recall and precision measures, for the evaluation of IR systems. I have outlined the current methods for distinguishing the key authors and subdisciplines in a field of research and proposed two new techniques that may be particularly suited to the study of the social dynamics of IR research. I have critiqued a number of alternatives to Boolean searching, concluding that, while various combination or hybrid systems may be optimum for particular information needs, overall the multiversion modification of Boolean IR advocated by Frants and colleagues is the most promising development in the IR field at the present time.