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Technical, Business, and Legal Dimensions of Protecting Children from Pornography on the Internet Proceedings of a Workshop (2002) / Chapter Skim
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1 Basic Concepts in Information Retrieval
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... Information retrieval typically assumes a static or relatively static database against which people search. Search engine companies construct these databases by sending out "spiders" and then indexing the Web pages they find.
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From page 2...
... Most search engines designed for the World Wide Web use the principle of "best match," that is, not making yes/no decisions but, rather, ranking information objects with respect to some representation of the information problem. Thus, the basic processes in information retrieval or information filtering are the representations of information objects and of information needs, or more generally, the problem or goal that the person has in mind.
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From page 3...
... An extensive literature on interindexer consistency shows that when people are asked to represent an information object, even if they are highly trained in using the same meta-language (indexing language) , they might achieve as much as only 60 to 70 percent consistency in tasks such as assigning descriptors.
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From page 4...
... It is not a question of preventing someone from getting inappropriate material but, rather, of supporting the person in not getting it. At least part of the public policy concern is kids who are actively trying to get pornography, and it is unreasonable to suppose that information retrieval techniques will be useful in achieving the goal of preventing them from doing so.
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Key Terms

  • information retrieval
  • information filtering
  • relevant documents
  • incoming stream
  • manual indexing

  • standard information
  • relatively static
  • intermediary supports
  • human indexer
  • person likes

  • representing information
  • word counting
  • ranking information
  • static database
  • basic processes

  • appropriate information
  • inherently uncertain
  • object regarding
  • people refer
  • objects requires

  • machine algorithm
  • retrieval research
  • retrieval process
  • search engines
  • passive monitoring

  • linguistic objects
  • supports people
  • policy concern
  • retrieval result
  • knowledge resource


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