Introduction to modern information retrieval / G.G. Chowdhury.

An information retrieval (IR) system is designed to analyse, process and store sources of information and retrieve those that match a particular user's requirements. A bewildering range of techniques is now available to the information professional attempting to successfully retrieve information. It is recognized that today's information professionals need to concentrate their efforts on learning the techniques of computerized IR. However, it is this book's contention that it also benefits them to learn the theory, techniques and tools that constitute the traditional approaches to the organization and processing of information. In fact much of this knowledge may still be applicable in the storage and retrieval of electronic information in digital library environments. The fully revised third edition of this highly regarded textbook has been thoroughly updated to incorporate major changes in this rapidly expanding field since the second edition in 2004, and a complete new chapter on citation indexing has been added. Unique in its scope, the book covers the whole spectrum of information storage and retrieval, including: users of IR and IR options; database technology; bibliographic formats; cataloguing and metadata; subject analysis and representation; automatic indexing and file organization; vocabulary control; abstracts and indexing; searching and retrieval; user-centred models of IR and user interfaces; evaluation of IR systems and evaluation experiments; online and CD-ROM IR; multimedia IR; hypertext and mark-up languages; web IR; intelligent IR; natural language processing and its applications in IR; citation analysis and IR; IR in digital libraries; and trends in IR research. Illustrated with many examples and comprehensively referenced for an international audience, this is an indispensable textbook for students of library and information studies. It is also an invaluable aid for information practitioners wishing to brush up on their skills and keep up to date with the latest techniques.

1. Basic concepts of information retrieval systems 2. Database technology 3. Bibliographic formats 4. Cataloguing and metadata | Subject analysis and representation 5. Automatic indexing and file organization 6. Vocabulary control 7. Abstracts and abstracting 8. Searching and retrieval 9. Users of information retrieval 10 .User-centred models of information retrieval 11. User interfaces 12. Evaluation of information retrieval systems 13. Evaluation experiments 14. Online and CD-ROM information retrieval 15. Multimedia information retrieval 16. Hypertext and markup languages 17. Web information retrieval 18. Natural language processing and information retrieval 19. Natural language processing applications in information retrieval 20. Citation analysis and information retrieval 21. Information retrieval in digital libraries 22. Trends in information retrieval.

Includes bibliographical references and index.