Improving web search using contextual retrieval

TL;DR

This paper presents a system that enhances web search by using user context and profiles to refine queries, resulting in improved search efficiency and user experience, supported by empirical evaluation.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel contextual retrieval system that captures and shares user data to improve search relevance and experience.

Findings

Users find information more readily with the system

Shared contextual profiles enhance search relevance

Empirical results support system effectiveness

Abstract

Contextual retrieval is a critical technique for today's search engines in terms of facilitating queries and returning relevant information. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of a system designed to tackle some of the challenges associated with contextual information retrieval from the World Wide Web (WWW). The developed system has been designed with a view to capturing both implicit and explicit user data which is used to develop a personal contextual profile. Such profiles can be shared across multiple users to create a shared contextual knowledge base. These are used to refine search queries and improve both the search results for a user as well as their search experience. An empirical study has been undertaken to evaluate the system against a number of hypotheses. In this paper, results related to one are presented that support the claim that users can find information more readily using the contextual search system.