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Reported, arranged, and edited by Dagobert Soergel
[Also available in Full Text PDF.]
The discussion identified the following issues
1. Thesaurus use in relation to structure
The age-old question: Do we need thesauri and do they really improve
retrieval? Or more precisely: Under what circumstances can a good thesaurus
make what difference in retrieval and use of information? Which elements of
thesaurus structure have what effects? Still more research is needed , taking
into consideration improved methods in the structuring and application of
thesauri
How do users interact with thesauri, seen as a function of user knowledge
(for example, user knowledge of using hierarchy in searching and of specific
hierarchies). This needs more research, taking into consideration the
possibilities of users interacting with elctronic thesuri using improved
interfaces and search possibilities
Interfaces for interacting with thesauri, especially for end users on the
Web
Integrated interface to multiple thesauri and other lexical resources
Behind the scenes use of thesauri to improve retrieval.
A thesaurus as a knowledge base for a user-system dialog
Use of thesaurus structure to support browsing
User learning from thesaurus structure.
Thesaurus as a resource for users in interpreting
information, for example by providing concepts and terminology of a domain
unfamiliar to the user Thesaurus as an education tool generally
Effect of thesaurus structure and content on user success. Which thesaurus
elements influences success
Application of thesauri to indexing very large collections, specifically
the Web. Thesauri as knowledge bases for automated indexing
Use of thesauri in collection building (if the object in question cannot
be indexed with the thesaurus, either the object is out of scope or the
thesaurus needs to be updated)
Thesaurus structure in relation to the granularity of the objects
retrieved (whole documents, small units of text, whole data tables, individual
data such as property data or commodity prices)
2. Thesaurus structure and content
Is hierarchy needed?
Types of relations. Need richer set of relationships
Multilingual thesauri. Linking terms across languages
Relationship to linguistic approaches to information retrieval
Cross-disciplinary or multi-domain thesauri. Linking terms across domains
Tension between usefulness of a domain framework and desire to search multiple
domains
Developing a shared vocabulary for access to images
Visual elements (signs and icons, shapes, pictures, structure diagrams) as
thesaurus elements
3. Evaluation of thesauri
4. Thesaurus construction
- Knowledge-based methods (use of linguistic/semantic knowledge and
analysis) vs statistical methods in thesaurus construction. Combining methods.
Manual vs automated implementation of methods or a combination.
- Support for the construction of large scale thesauri - automated
- Correlating existing thesauri for both search support and support in
thesaurus construction
Correlating thesauri from different disciplines/domain (see also 2 above)
Correlating thesauri with different structure. How to compare hierarchies
- Adaptation of existing classifications and terminologies to an electronic
environment (see also interface under 1)
- Thesaurus construction in the absence of a collection. How to anticipate
need for concepts and terms in the thesaurus
- Dynamic thesaurus construction and update
User input
Query analysis
New concepts and terms in documents, detected automatically or
communicated by indexers
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