Skip to main content
Log in

Fuzzy information retrieval

  • Published:
Journal of Intelligent Information Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Over the past decade, information retrieval has emerged as an active research area in the application of fuzzy set theory. Fuzzy information retrieval utilizes fuzzy sets to represent documents, membership degrees for query term relevance, fuzzy logical operators to define queries, and fuzzy compatibility measures to assess the retrieval status value of a document. This paper presents an overview of fuzzy relational databases and fuzzy information retrieval. A general description of the main components of fuzzy information retrieval are given: document representation, query representation, computer-aided query formulation, document retrieval status, and performance measures. Examples of areas currently being researched are provided. The relation between fuzzy information retrieval and fuzzy relational databases is examined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anvari, M., and Rose, G. (1987). Fuzzy Relational Databases. In J.C. Bezdek (Ed.),Analysis of Fuzzy Information, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin, J.F. (1983). A Fuzzy Relational Inference Language for Expert Systems. InProc. 1st Int. Conf. Fuzzy Information Processing, Kauai, Hawaii, pp. 416–423.

  • Bookstein, A. (1980). Fuzzy Requests: An Approach to Weighted Boolean Searches,J. Am. Soc. Inform. Sci. 31, 240–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bordogna, G., Carrara, P., and Pasi, G. (1992). Extending Boolean Information Retrieval: A Fuzzy Model Based on Linguistic Variables. InProc. IEEE Int. Conf. Fuzzy Systems, San Diego, CA, pp. 769–776.

  • Bordogna, G., Carrara, P., and Pasi, G. (1993). A Fuzzy Document Representation Supporting User Adaptation in Information Retrieval. InProc. Second IEEE Int. Conf. Fuzzy Systems, San Francisco, CA, pp. 974–979.

  • Bosc, P., and Galibourg, M. (1988). Flexible Selection Among Objects: A Framework Based on Fuzzy Sets. InProc. ACM Conf. Research and Development in Information Retrieval, pp. 433–449.

  • Bosc, P., and Galibourg, M. (1989). Indexing Principles for a Fuzzy Data Base,Information Systems, 14–6, 493–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckles, B.P., and Petry, F.E. (1982). A Fuzzy Representation of Data for Relational Databases,Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 7, pp. 213–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckles, B.P., and Petry, F.E. (1985). Uncertainty Models in Information and Database Systems,Information Sci., 11, 77–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckles, B.P., Petry, F.E., and Sachar, H.S. (1986). Retrieval and Design Concepts for Similarity-Based (Fuzzy) Relational Databases.” InProc. ROBEX'86, Houston, TX, pp. 243–251.

  • Buell, D., and Kraft, D.H. (1981a). A Model for a Weighted Retrieval System,J. Am. Soc. Information Sci., 32, 211–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buell, D., and Kraft, D.H. (1981b). Performance Measurement in a Fuzzy Retrieval System,ACM SIGIR Forum, 16(56).

  • Cater, S.C., and Kraft, D.H. (1989). A Generalization and Clarification of the Waller-Kraft Wish-List,Information Process. Management, 25, 15–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Codd, E.F. (1979). Extending the Database Relational Model to Capture More Meaning,ACM Trans. Database Systems, 4–4, 397–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, P.R. (1987). Information Retrieval by Constrained Spreading Activation,Information Process. Management, 23–4, 255–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, V.V. (1993). An Analysis of Fuzzy-Set Aggregators and Compatibility Measures, Ph.D. dissertation, Wright State University, Dayton, OH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, D., and Prade, H. (1980).Fuzzy Sets and Systems: Theory and Applications, New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, D., and Prade, H. (1982). A Unifying View of Comparison Indices in a Fuzzy Set-Theoretic Framework. In Ronald R. Yager (Ed.),Fuzzy Set and Possibility Theory Recent Developments, New York: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, D., Prade, H., and Testemale, C. (1988). Weighted Fuzzy Pattern Matching,Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 28, 313–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, D. E. (1989).Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabisch, M., Yoneda, M., and Fukami, S. (1991). Subjective Evaluation by Fuzzy Integral: The Crisp and Possibilistic Case. InProc. Int. Fuzzy Engineering Symp. Yokohama.

  • Klir, G.J., and Folger, TA. (1988).Fuzzy Sets, Uncertainty, and Information. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohout, L.J., Keravnou, E., and Bandler, W. (1983). Information Retrieval System Using Fuzzy Relational Products for Thesaurus Construction. InProc. IFAC Fuzzy Information, Marseille, France, pp. 7–13.

  • Kraft, D.H., Bordogna, G., and Pasi, G. (1992). An Extended Fuzzy Linguistic Approach to Generalize Boolean Information Retrieval. InProc. Fuzzy Theory and Technology Conf. Durham, NC.

  • Kraft, D.H., and Buell, D.A. (1983). Fuzzy Sets and Generalized Boolean Retrieval Systems,Int. J. Man-Machine Stud., 19, 45–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipski, Jr., W. (1981). On Databases with Incomplete Information,J. ACM, 28–1, 41–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucarella, D. (1983). A Document Retrieval System Based on Nearest Neighbor Searching,J. Information Sci., 14, 25–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucarella, D. (1989). ldHeuristics to Locate the Best Document Set in Information Retrieval Systems. In Proc.Eight Annual IEEE Conf. Computer and Communications, Scottsdale, AZ, pp. 567–571.

  • Lucarella, D. (1990). Uncertainty in Information Retrieval: An Approach Based on Fuzzy Sets. InProc. Int. Conf. Computer and Communications, Atlanta, GA, pp. 809–814.

  • Mansfield, Jr., W.H., and Fleishman, R.M. (1993). A High Performance Ad-Hoc Fuzzy Query Processing System for Relational Databases,Int. J. Intelligent Information Systems, 2–4 397–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune, B.P., Dean, J.S., Tong, R.M., and Shapiro, R. (1983). RUBRIC: A System for Rule-Based Information Retrieval. Technical Report.

  • Menger, K. (1942). Statistical Metrics,Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 28, 535–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamura, K., and Iwai, S. (1982). A Representation of Analogical Inference by Fuzzy Sets and Its Application to Information Retrieval Systems. In M.M. Gupta and E. Sanchez (Eds.),Fuzzy Information and Decision Processes, New York: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Negoita, C.V., and Flondor, P. (1976). On Fuzziness in Information Retrieval,Int. J. Man-Machine Stud., 8, 711–716.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, M.J. (1988). Correlation of Term Usage and Term Indexes Frequencies,Information Process. Management, 24, 541–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oezsoyoglu, G., Oezsoyoglu, Z.M., and Matos, V. (1987). Extending Relational Algebra and Relational Calculus with Set-Valued Attributes and Aggregate Functions,ACM Trans. Database Systems, 21–4, 566–592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petry, F.E., Buckles, B.P., Kraft, D.H., and Prabhu, D. (1993). Genetic Algorithms for Fuzzy Boolean Information Retrieval. InProc. 12th Ann. Meeting North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society, pp. 52–62.

  • Prade, H.(1984). Approximate and Plausible Reasoning, In E. Sanchez (Ed.),Fuzzy Information, Knowledge Representation, and Decision Analysis, Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prade, H., and Testemale, C. (1987). Representation of Soft Constraints and Fuzzy Attribute Values by Means of Possibility Distributions in Databases. In J.C. Bezdek (Ed.),Analysis of Fuzzy Information, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rada, R., Mili, H., Bicknell, E., and Blettner, M. (1989). Development and Application of a Metric on Semantic Nets,IEEE Trans. System, Man, and Cybernetics, 19, 17–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radecki, T. (1976). New Approach to the Problem of Information System Effectiveness Evaluation,Information Process. Management, 12, 319–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radecki, T. (1979a). Mathematical Model of Information Retrieval Based on the Concept of a Fuzzy Thesaurus,Information Process. Management, 12, 313–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radecki, T. (1979b). Fuzzy Set Theoretical Approach to Document Retrieval,Information Process. Management, 15, 247–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raju, K.V.S.V.N., and Majumdar, A.K. (1988). Fuzzy Functional Dependencies and Lossless Join Decomposition of Fuzzy Relational Database Systems,ACM Trans. Database Systems, 13–2, 129–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rundensteiner, E.A., Hawkes, L.W., and Bandler, W. (1989). On Nearness Measures in Fuzzy Relational Data Models,Int., J. Approximate Reasoning, 3, 267–298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salton, G. (1989).Automatic Text Processing: The Transformation, Analysis, and Retrieval of Information by Computer. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salton, G., and Buckley, C. (1988). Term Weighting Approaches in Automatic Text Retrieval,Information Process. Management, 24, pp. 513–523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salton, G., and Buckley, C. (1990). Improving Retrieval Performance by Relevance Feedback,J. Am. Soc. Information Sci., 41, 288–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salton, G., Fox, E., and Wu, H. (1983). Extended Boolean Information Retrieval,Comm. ACM, 26–12, 1022–1036.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salton, G., and McGill, M.J. (1984).Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval. New York McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, E. (1989). Importance in Knowledge Systems,Information Systems, 14–6, 455–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugeno, M. (1977). Fuzzy Measures and Fuzzy Integrals: A Survey. In M.M. Gupta, G.N. Saridis, and B.R. Gaines (Eds.),Fuzzy Automata and Decision Processes, Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tahani, V. (1976). A Fuzzy Model of Document Retrieval Systems,Information Process. Management, 12, 177–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tong, R.M., and Shapiro, D.G. (1985). Experimental Investigations of Uncertainty in a Rule-Based System for Information Retrieval,Int. J. Man-Machine Stud., 22, 265–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trillas, E., and Valverde, L. (1985). On Mode and Implication in Approximate Reasoning. In M.M. Gupta, A. Kandel, W. Bandler, and J.B. Kiszka (Eds.),Approximate Reasoning in Expert Systems, Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umano, M. (1982). Freedom-O: A Fuzzy Database System. In M.M. Gupta and E. Sanchez (Eds.),Fuzzy Information and Decision Processes, Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Umano, M. (1984). Retrieval from Fuzzy Database by Fuzzy Relational Algebra. In E. Sanchez (Ed.),Fuzzy Information, Knowledge Representation, and Decision Analysis, Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Rijsbergen, C.J. (1979).Information Retrieval, 2nd ed. London: Butterworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waller, W.G., and Kraft, D.K. (1979). A Mathematical Model of a Weighted Boolean Retrieval System,Information Process. Management, 15, 235–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yager, R.R. (1988). On Ordered Weighted Averaging Aggregation Operators in Multicriteria Decisionmaking,IEEE Trans. System, Man, Cybernetics.,18, 183–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang, C. (1992). Query Modification Using Genetic Algorithms in Vector Space Models, Technical Report, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zadeh, L.A. (1965). Fuzzy Sets,Information and Control, 8, 338–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zadeh, L.A. (1978). Fuzzy Sets as a Basis for a Theory of Possibility,Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 1–1, 3–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zemankova, M., and Kandel, A. (1985). Implementing Imprecision in Information Systems,Information Sci., 37, 107–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zemankova-Leech, M., and Kandel, A. (1984).Fuzzy Relational Database—A Key to Expert Systems. Cologne: Verlag TUV Rheinland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmermann, H.J. (1985).Fuzzy Set Theory and Its Applications. Boston: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cross, V. Fuzzy information retrieval. J Intell Inf Syst 3, 29–56 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014019

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014019

Keywords

Navigation