Multilingual Search Assistance: Interactive Aspects of Cross Language Information Access
Paul Clough
Dept. of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
Abstract
The interface acts as the intermediary between users of information retrieval (IR) systems and the search system itself. A well-designed interface should assist users in clarifying their information needs, and subsequently help them formulate suitable queries and understand the results. However, interactive multilingual information access systems provide an additional challenge to designers – users may not have the necessary language skills to find and interact with documents written in multiple languages. To provide effective access to multilingual document collections, users require search assistance. This session will explore approaches to support interaction at various stages within the search process: query formulation (e.g. offering the user additional query terms to refine their search such as synonyms), query translation (e.g. enabling the user to select from multiple query translations such as different word senses), document selection from search results (e.g. providing useable summaries for users to make informed decisions) and document examination (e.g. providing translated versions of documents for use by the end users). In addition to specific cross-language functionality, we will also discuss other aspects of interactive user interfaces such as design principles, evaluation criteria, use cases and general information seeking behaviours. Students will also gain hands-on experience using example interactive cross-language systems.
Course Material
Multilingual Search Assistance: Interactive Aspects of Cross Language Information Access
Paul Clough, Dept. of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, United Kingdo
