IRE Retrieval system tests 1958-1978 chapter Karen Sparck Jones Butterworth & Company Karen Sparck Jones All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the copyright holder, application for which should be addressed to the Publishers. Such written permission must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Approaches to the historical review 217 Test System I I [OCRerr]periment : Investigation I I I I I I I-------------------------------------------------------J 13 Ii I Ii I I 13 Core II 13 I I 3 I 1L-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I I I II I I II 11periphery I II II------------------------------------------------------------------------------J -- I I Figure 12.1 Test I------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I I I I I I I 1EXperirnert Investigation I I -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- L-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II 3//////////// ;/ I I I I I / I IIIIIIIIIIII `I I I I I I I I Core lIl/IllIllIll 1/ / I I I I I I I I/I/I//I/I/I `I I I I I I I I 31 I II IIIIII/I/IIII Il I I I I I I I System ;L-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I II I I I'' [OCRerr] [OCRerr] [OCRerr] `[OCRerr] I I I II Ii 1/ I I I I I g I I I I ii Periphery I I I I I I I I I I II II `I I I I I I I I I I I I I Il I I I I I I I I I I I Figure 12.2 1968-1978, and the two will therefore be treated separately. In conclijsion, I shall consider the status that experimental work in retrieval as a whole has achieved, and its wider impact, especially on operational systems. Thus summarizing the discussion so far, we have testing ranging from experiment proper to investigation, and system phenomena ranging from core to periphery. Setting the one against the other gives us Figure 12.1. We then superimpose the concern with system function, which we can represent by shading, so we get Figure 12.2. The main focus of the chapter is therefore with the most densely shaded area of the diagram: evaluation experiment. However, as the boundaries are not absolute, some reference to the broader picture will be made, but only as far as this is justified by the need for a broad historical account. In describing and relating the various tests, some simplification is