Interactive IR Models

Abstract

The nature of information retrieval (IR) is interaction. However, the traditional IR model only focuses on the comparison between user input and system output. It does not illustrate the changeable interaction process (Saracevic, 1997). The human involvement of IR makes the process complicated and dynamic. Belkin (1993) further identified the two underlying assumptions of the traditional IR view: (1) The information need is static, and can be specified; and (2) there is only one form of information-seeking behavior. The limitations of the traditional IR model are becoming more evident. In the 1990s researchers started to develop interactive IR models. Among them, Ingwersen’s cognitive model (1992, 1996), Belkin’s episode model of interaction with texts (1996), and Saracevic’s stratified model (1996a, 1997) are the most cited ones.