Title page for ETD etd-08012012-040438

Type of Document

Master's Thesis

Author

Weaver, Marybeth Therese

URN

etd-08012012-040438

Title

Implementing an intelligent information retrieval system :the CODER system, version 1.0

Degree

Master of Science

Department

Computer Science and Applications

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
Fox, Edward Alan	Committee Chair
Hix, Deborah S.	Committee Member
Nutter, Jane Terry	Committee Member

Keywords

Information storage and retrieval systems

Date of Defense

1988-02-05

Availability

restricted

Abstract

For individuals requiring interactive access to online text, information storage and retrieval systems
provide a way to retrieve desired documents and/or text passages. The CODER (COmposite
Document Expert/effective/extended Retrieval) system is a testbed for determining how useful various
artificial intelligence techniques are for increasing the effectiveness of information storage and
retrieval systems. The system, designed previously, has three components: an analysis subsystem
for analyzing and storing document contents, a central spine for manipulation and storage of world
and domain knowledge, and a retrieval subsystem for matching user queries to relevant documents.
This thesis discusses the implementation of the retrieval subsystem and portions of the spine and
analysis subsystem. It illustrates that logic programming, specifically with the Prolog language, is
suitable for development of an intelligent information retrieval system. Furthermore, it shows that
system modularity provides a flexible research testbed, allowing many individuals to work on different
parts of the system which may later be quickly integrated.
The retrieval subsystem has been implemented in a modular fashion so that new approaches to
information retrieval can be easily compared to more traditional ones. A powerful knowledge
representation language, a comprehensive lexicon and individually tailored experts using standardized
blackboard modules for communication and control allowed rapid prototyping, incremental
development and ready adaptability to change. The system executes on a DEC VAX ll/785 running
ULTRIX™, a variant of 4.2 BSD UNIX. It has been implemented as a set of MU-Prolog
and C modules communicating through TCP/IP sockets.

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