One of the main problems in the database area is to define query languages characterized by both high expressive power and ease of use. In this paper, we propose a system to query databases, using diagrams as a standard user interface. The system, called Query by Diagram* (QBD*), makes use of a conceptual data model, a query language on this model and a graphical user interface. The conceptual ...

Query languages for RDBMSs lack in intuitive understanding; this precludes inexperienced users from taking advantage of them. The adoption of a visual interface can simplify the query formulation process by enabling users to interact with a friendly environment. In this work we propose a visual query language based on a hybrid iconic-diagrammatic paradigm, used for both data and query represent...

In this paper, we present a Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR) approach using corpus driven query suggestion. We have used corpus statistics to gather a clue on selecting the right query terms when the translation of a specific query is missing or incorrect. The derived set of queries are ranked to select the top ranked queries. These top ranked queries are further used to perform quer...

We present an empirical study of how users express information needs visually through “Query by sketch” interfaces. The objective of the study has been to gain an understanding of how users translate information needs into visual queries (VQ) and what type of problems they encounter. We have studied the process of translating an information need to a visual query and how a visual query interfac...

In database or knowledge-base systems, query formulation languages are the means offered to users for accessing data or knowledge. Queries allow selection of data under particular – either simple or complex constraints, resulting from one or several structures. However, query formulation remains obstinately difficult for large classes of users. Indeed, with the exception of approaches facilitat...

In this paper we describe an approach for a multilingual natural language query interface that allows the formulation of queries on tourism information like hotel availability. The interface is based on n-gram language identification and a keyword-based query interpretation where natural language analysis is performed for identification of the requested objects. The web-based interface is desig...

The vocabulary of the TREC Legal OCR collection is noisy and huge. Standard techniques for improving retrieval performance such as content-based query expansion are ineffective for such document collection. In our work, we focused on exploiting metadata using blind relevance feedback, iterative improvement from the reference Boolean run, and the effects of using terms from different topic field...

Unfamiliarity with search tactics creates difficulties for many users of online retrieval systems. User observations indicate that even experienced searchers use vocabulary incorrectly and rarely reformulate their queries. Distributed sources of online information, for example the World Wide Web (WWW), require new types of search techniques. To address these problems, intelligent search assista...

Graphical representations of database schemas such as entity-relationship diagrams are commonly used to support database design. In this paper we discuss graphical representations of semantic data models and their application to interactive query languages. Operators that are appropriate for graphical query formulation are defined for several semantic data models. We also discuss a general meth...