The Shift from Information Retrieval to Information Synthesis
Issue Date
2005Submitted date
2009-01-14Keywords
Knowledge ManagementInformation Extraction
Information Retrieval
Interdisciplinarity
Information Seeking Behaviors
Information Analysis
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The Shift from Information Retrieval to Information Synthesis 2005,Abstract
Grand challenges such as public health, security, genomics, environmental protection, education, and economics, are characterized by complexity, interdependence, globalization, and unpredictability. Although the unprecedented quantity of information surrounding these challenges can provide users with a new perspective on solutions, the data surrounding complex systems vary with respect to levels of structure and authority, and include vastly different contexts and vocabularies. To be successful in this domain we must extend our models of information science such that they operate successfully in environments where the quantity of relevant information far exceeds our human processing capacity. For example, the well-accepted precision and recall metrics break down when hundreds of thousands of documents are relevant. Solutions to grand challenges require that information scientists shift their focus from information retrieval towards information synthesis.Type
Conference PaperLanguage
enCollections
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