A Decision Theoretic Model for Information Retrieval Supporting Time Constraints
Yannis Tzitzikas, Panos Constantopoulos · 2001
This paper presents ideas and identies research issues for a novel information retrieval model for general purpose information retrieval systems, in which each query except from specifying the topic of the information need, it also species the time period the user is willing to spend for getting and consuming the answer set, hence, for changing his mental state and fullling his information need. The model requires knowing the "consumption time" of each document by the user. We describe methods for obtaining these times and show how these times can be exploited for providing different results orderings. We analyze the issue of ordering from a decision theoretic point of view and we further investigate an approach that uses Cost-Benet Analysis for choosing the documents to be returned for each query. The model is further rened in order to support long term information needs with deadlines and documents that are not instantly deliverable.