Natural language user interfaces in information retrieval

This paper examines the role of natural language (NL) processing in information retrieval in the context of large operational information retrieval systems and services. State-of-the-art information retrieval systems combine the functional capabilities of the conventional inverted file Boolean logic term adjacency approach commonly employed by commercial search services, with statistical-combinatorial techniques pioneered in experimental information retrieval (IR) research, and formal natural language processing methods and tools borrowed from artificial intelligence (AI). The emergence and ever increasing importance of end user searching provides challenging opportunities for the integration of sophisticated natural language analysis and processing techniques in user friendly interfaces.published or submitted for publicatio