Two basic IR methods:
Browse
Search
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They are further divided into sub-categories:
Browse
By Author
By Title
By Subject etc.
Search
Simple Search
Advanced Search
Boolean Search
Indexing
Ranking
Probabilistic Retrieval
Simple Search
A search is the organized pursuit of information. You conduct a search by issuing a query, which is simply a way of asking a question that will find the information you are looking for.
Advanced Search
Advanced search lets you use Boolean operators, or to search for exact words or phrases etc.
Boolean Search
The Boolean retrieval model is a model for information retrieval in which we can pose any query which is in the form of a Boolean expression of terms, that is, in which terms are combined with the operators AND, OR, and NOT. The model views each document as just a set of words.
Indexing
An index is an alphabetical list of items and their location. Indexing is the act of assigning index terms to a document. Indexing is the act of describing a document by index terms to indicate what the document is about.
Ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either 'ranked higher than', 'ranked lower than' or 'ranked equal to' the second. An Internet search engine may rank the pages it finds according to an estimation of their relevance, making it possible for the user quickly to select the pages they are likely to want to see.
Probabilistic Retrieval
The basic idea of probabilistic retrieval is that given a document and a query, it should be possible to calculate the probability that the document retrieved is relevant to the query.
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