Query formulation for handling negation in information retrieval systems
Ziad S. Nakkouzi, Caroline M. Eastman · Journal of the American Society for Information Science · 1990
Queries containing negation are widely recognized as presenting problems for both users and systems. In information retrieval systems such problems usually manifest themselves in the use of the NOT operator. An algorithm to transform Boolean queries with negated terms into queries without negation is presented; the transformation process is based on the use of a hierarchical thesaurus. In addition, a set of user requests submitted to the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina are examined to determine the pattern and frequency of use of negation. © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.