JCDL'02, July 13-17, 2002, Portland, Oregon, USA.

2002

1-58113-513-0/02/0007

2

Using Librarian Techniques in Automatic Text Summarization for Information Retrieval

Min-Yen Kan
Department of Computer Science
Columbia University
New York, New York 10027

Judith L. Klavans
Center for Research on Information Access
Columbia University
New York, New York 10027

14 January 2002

klavans@cs.columbia.edu

Abstract:

A current application of automatic text summarization is to provide an overview of relevant documents coming from an information retrieval (IR) system. This paper examines how CENTRIFUSER, one such summarization system, was designed with respect to methods used in the library community. We have reviewed these librarian expert techniques to assist information seekers and codified them into eight distinct strategies. We detail how we have operationalized six of these strategies in Centrifuser by computing an informative extract, indicative differences between documents, as well as navigational links to narrow or broaden a user's query. We conclude the paper with results from a preliminary evaluation.

H.3.7Information Storage and RetrievalDigital Libraries[User Issues] I.2.7Artificial IntelligenceNatural Language Processing[Text Analysis]

Algorithms, Design, Human Factors

Reference Librarian Techniques, Automatic Text Summarization, Information Retrieval User Interfaces