A simulation model of an information retrieval system

Statuary--This paper describes a simulation model which is used as a tool for designing and evaluating literature searching systems. The simulation program creates a well specified collection of documents and analyzes the effect of changes in query file characteristics on system output performance. First a thesaurus of term relations is generated. Then, employing the thesaurus, routines generate pseudo-documents and pseudo-queries. These pseudo-documents and pseudo-queries are then compared to see the effect of various query file parameter changes on the quantity of material retrieved. Evaluation of the simulation output indicates that there are small differences between the results of the experimental runs. It is concluded that one method for generating pseudo-queries is not deafly better than another. It is believed, however, that the simulation model as an approach to the evaluation of retrieval systems provides a limited but useful framework for the evaluation of information retrieval systems.