Demonstrating Requirement Search on a University Degree Search Application

Abstract

In many domains of information retrieval, we are required to retrieve documents that describe requirements on a predefined set of terms. A requirement is a relationship between a set of terms and the document. As requirements become more complex by catering for optional, alternative, and combinations of terms, efficiently retrieving documents becomes more challenging due to the exponential size of the search space. In this paper, we propose RevBoMIR, which utilizes a modified Boolean Model for Information Retrieval to retrieve requirements-based documents without sacrificing the expressiveness of requirements. Our proposed approach is particularly useful in domains where documents embed criteria that can be satisfied by mandatory, alternative or disqualifying terms to determine its retrieval. Finally, we present a graph model for representing document requirements, and demonstrate Requirement Search via a university degree search application.