Structured translation for cross-language information retrieval

The paper introduces a query translation model that re ects the structure of the cross-language information retrieval task. The model is based on a structured bilingual dictionary in which the translations of each term are clustered into groups with distinct meanings. Query translation is modeled as a two-stage process, with the system rst determining the intended meaning of a queryterm and then selecting translations appropriate to that meaning that might appear in the document collection. An implementation of structured translation based on automatic dictionary clustering is described and evaluated by using Chinese queries to retrieve English documents. Structured translation achieved an average precision that was statistically indistinguishable from Pirkola's technique for very short queries, but Pirkola's technique outperformed structured translation on long queries. The paper concludes with some observations on future work to improve retrieval e ectiveness and on other ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2000
• Where: SIGIR
• Authors: Ruth Sperer, Douglas W. Oard
• Keywords: Information Management, Query Translation, Query Translation Model, SIGIR 2000, Structured Translation