Retrieval Requirements of Faceted Thesauri in Interactive Information Systems

Abstract

The An and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) will be used as the example of a faceted thesaurus that raises problems for retrieval in existing data entry and retrieval systems. This paper first describes AATs classified, faceted structure and the AAT Application Protocol, which is a guideline for building semantic groupings of terms into complex expressions and strings at the time of indexing. Retrieval is hampered by retrieval software in current systems that neither exploit the relationships expressed in the thesaurus nor develop the necessary syntax to search precoordinate expressions and strings. This paper identifies a number of requirements that must be met by automated retrieval systems implemented to search the AAT or other faceted, hierarchical thesauri. The body of the paper confines itself strictly to requirements for execution of retrieval logic and only in the final section suggests some user interface features that would be desirable for such systems.