Information Retrieval MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Information Retrieval - Download Free PDF

Key Points

• SugarSync:
  • ​SugarSync, a cloud service, facilitates the dynamic synchronization of files across multiple devices, allowing for file backup, accessibility, synchronization, and sharing.
  • SugarSync is an online file-sharing, storage, and backup service
  • It supports various operating systems such as Android, iOS, Mac OS X, and Windows, excluding Linux, which only has access to a discontinued unofficial third-party client.
  • The origins of SugarSync trace back to Sharpcast, incorporated in 2004.
  • In 2008, Laura Yecies assumed the role of CEO, leading the company through a strategic shift and rebranding to SugarSync, Inc. in 2009.
  • Formerly headquartered in San Mateo, California, SugarSync offers a versatile solution for seamless file management across diverse platforms.
• Open drive:
  • OpenDrive is a cloud-based storage and collaboration platform that allows users to store, backup, and share files.
  • Opendrive is a robust cloud storage and office suite offering accessibility from any location.
  • With OpenDrive Drive, users can store, sync, or backup documents, music, and pictures online, ensuring instant access, sharing, and collaboration within a secure environment.
  • The platform also includes OpenDrive Notes, featuring a simple yet effective interface for creating notepads with single notes and to-do lists.
  • Users can attach pictures and documents to any note, along with writing comments.
  • Additionally, OpenDrive Tasks serves as a powerful task and project management tool, facilitating seamless project collaboration within a single interface. Tasks can be easily shared with account users or external collaborators.
• Dropbox:
  • Dropbox,, a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., is based in San Francisco, California, U.S.
  • The service provides cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software.
  • Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, MIT students, founded Dropbox in 2007 as a startup, receiving initial funding from seed accelerator Y Combinator.
  • The concept of Dropbox emerged when founder Drew Houston faced challenges with forgetting his USB flash drive during his time at MIT.
  • Houston established Evenflow, Inc. in May 2007, serving as the company behind Dropbox, and secured seed funding from Y Combinator.
  • The official launch of Dropbox took place at the 2008 TechCrunch Disrupt, an annual technology conference.

Key Points

• ​In the field of information and knowledge management, half-life represents the time it takes for information or knowledge to become outdated or obsolete.
• Just like in radioactive decay, where half-life refers to the time it takes for half of the radioactive substance to decay, in information science, it signifies how quickly information loses its relevance.
• Factors such as technological advancements, changing paradigms, and evolving contexts contribute to the diminishing relevance of information over time.
• Researchers and practitioners in information science study this phenomenon to understand how to manage and update information effectively.

Additional InformationHalf-life in information science can be determined based on citation or circulation data.

• For citation-based half-life, the median publication year of documents citing the source document is subtracted from the publication year of the source document.
• For instance, if an article was published in 1994 and received 83 citations over 16 years, with the median citing document published in 2000, the half-life would be 6 years (2000 - 1994).
• For circulation-based half-life, the median issue year of circulated items is subtracted from the acquisition year of the source item.
• For example, if a library acquired a book in 1995 and it circulated 83 times over 16 years, with the median issue year being 2000, the half-life would be 5 years (2000 - 1995).

Key Points

• Truncation is a search technique used in information retrieval systems.
• It involves shortening a word to its root form and appending a symbol (often an asterisk *) to retrieve all possible endings of that root word.
• This technique helps in expanding search results by including various word forms, such as plurals, different tenses, and derivations.
• For example, searching for "educat*" will return results for "education," "educator," "educational," and "educated."
• Truncation improves the efficiency and effectiveness of search formulation by ensuring comprehensive coverage of relevant documents.
• It is particularly useful in databases where exact word matches are required for retrieval.

 Additional Information

• Bibliographic Control
  • Bibliographic control is the process of organizing and managing bibliographic information so that it can be easily retrieved. It involves the systematic cataloging and classification of documents.
  • This process ensures that books, journals, and other media are properly indexed and accessible in library catalogs and databases.
• MARC Format
  • The Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) format is a standard for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form.
  • It is used by libraries to catalog their collections and to exchange bibliographic information with other libraries and systems.
• Database Creation
  • Database creation involves the development and organization of data into a structured format that can be easily accessed, managed, and updated.
  • This process includes defining the database schema, entering data, and ensuring data integrity and security.

The Correct answer is Rate of obsolescence.

Key Points

• In the field of information and knowledge management, half-life represents the time it takes for information or knowledge to become outdated or obsolete.
• Just like in radioactive decay, where half-life refers to the time it takes for half of the radioactive substance to decay, in information science, it signifies how quickly information loses its relevance.
• Factors such as technological advancements, changing paradigms, and evolving contexts contribute to the diminishing relevance of information over time.
• Researchers and practitioners in information science study this phenomenon to understand how to manage and update information effectively.

Additional InformationHalf-life in information science can be determined based on citation or circulation data.

• For citation-based half-life, the median publication year of documents citing the source document is subtracted from the publication year of the source document.
• For instance, if an article was published in 1994 and received 83 citations over 16 years, with the median citing document published in 2000, the half-life would be 6 years (2000 - 1994).
• For circulation-based half-life, the median issue year of circulated items is subtracted from the acquisition year of the source item.
• For example, if a library acquired a book in 1995 and it circulated 83 times over 16 years, with the median issue year being 2000, the half-life would be 5 years (2000 - 1995).

The Correct answer is for search and retrieval services.

Key Points

• Z39.50:
  • Z39.50, the forerunner of the twin protocols SRU/SRW, saw its development initiated in the 1970s, resulting in subsequent versions in 1988, 1992, 1995, and 2003.
  • This international standard client-server protocol operates at the application layer, facilitating the search and retrieval of information from databases over a TCP/IP computer network.
  • It is administered and sustained by the Library of Congress, covered by ANSI/NISO standard Z39.50 and ISO standard 23950.
  • The protocol's search syntax supports diverse functionalities, including search, retrieval, sort, and browse. Queries are constructed with attributes from the bib-1 attribute set, enabling complex search operations.
  • The Bath Profile was introduced as an effort to standardize search syntax and server response, fostering more uniformity across servers. 
  • Alternate protocols such as the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and SPARQL also provide alternatives to Z39.50.
  • The standard port number for Z39.50 is 210, with various alternative port numbers employed worldwide for different databases.

Confusion Points

• Z39.71:
  • ​Z39.71, the ANSI/NISO Z39.71 holdings display standard, integrates conceptual holdings elements, officially referred to as Data Areas, and nine principles for recording the holdings elements, officially designated as the Principles.
  • This standard, developed by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), focuses on searching online library catalogs and retrieving bibliographic records.
• ISO 2907:2002:
  • ​ISO 2907:2002 outlines guidelines about the maximum dimensions of the film image area for projection from 35 mm motion-picture film, specifying its positioning relative to the film's perforations and reference edge.
• Z39.70:
  • Z39.70, a widely recognized client-server communication protocol, operates at the application layer.
  • It facilitates the search and retrieval of information from databases through TCP/IP computer networks.

The Correct answer is C, D, and E only.

Key Points

• The stratified model begins with two fundamental assumptions:
  • first, that users engage with information retrieval (IR) systems to access information, and
  • second, that the use of this information is linked to cognitive processes and practical application in specific situations.
• These assumptions, while seemingly obvious, provide a foundation for the model's focus.
•  In the stratified model, the primary components are users and computers, each with their own variables, engaged in interactions through an interface. While the interface facilitates these interactions, it is not the central focus.
• The interface operates at the surface level, where observations can be made regarding user actions, computer responses, collaboration, and patterns in different situations. 
• On the user side, we can identify three initial levels: Cognitive, Affective, and Situational.
• Each level represents different aspects of the user's experience and engagement with information.

The Correct answer is INFORMATION ADJ RETRIEVAL.

Key Points

• Various operators are used to query and retrieve relevant information from document repositories.
• Let’s explore some of these operators:
  • Boolean Operators:
    • ​AND: Retrieves documents that contain both of the specified terms.
    • OR: Retrieves documents that contain either of the specified terms.
    • NOT: Excludes documents that contain the specified term.
  • Proximity Operators:
    • ​ADJ: Guarantees that the designated terms are positioned next to one another within the same context (e.g., “information ADJ retrieval”).
    • NEAR: Retrieves documents in which the specified terms appear near each other, although not necessarily adjacent.
    • BEFORE: The before proximity operator indicates that the first word is located within # words and precedes the second word.
  • Phrase Queries involve enclosing terms in double quotes to retrieve documents where the complete phrase appears exactly as specified, such as "machine learning."
  • Wildcards and Truncation involve the use of special characters:
    • : Represents any character or sequence of characters (e.g., “comput” retrieves “computer,” “computing,” etc.).
    • ?: Represents a single character (e.g., “wom?n” retrieves “woman” or “women”).
  • Field-Specific Queries allow searching within particular fields (e.g., title, author, date) using syntax like “title: information.”
  • Fuzzy Search retrieves documents with terms akin to the specified term (e.g., “color~” retrieves “color”).

The Correct answer is Philosophical model:

Key Points

• Models Based on Theories and Tools​
  • L​inguistic Model:
    • In ​linguistic model for information retrieval, study the information retrieval from the point of view of the properties of language. Information retrieval is provided by features of natural language as well as artificial languag.
  •  Psychological Model:
    • ​The psycholinguistic approaches to information retrieval led to the study of formation of concepts in human mind the way in which the human thinking process arranges the ideas, its presentation at the time of enquiry, and the type of retrieval cues it demands while searching has led to a cognitive research linked with computer communication processes.
  • Fuzzy Logic Model:
    • ​The term 'fuzzy' is used to imply the results from the minimal standards or controls on the creators of the text items..
    • Fuzzy logic supports values: true and false as well as other values in between.
    • .The conceptual fuzzy logic was introduced by Professor Lotfi A Zadeah.
    • Fuzzy retrieval provide the capability to locate spellings of words that are similar to the entered search term.

Additional Information

•  Other models of information retrieval Based on Theories and Tools:
  • Boolean Retrieval Model:
  • Set Theoretic Model
  • Vector Space .Model
  • Probabilistic Retrieval Model
  • Linguistic Model
  • Mathematical Model
  • Economic Model
  • Hypertext Linkage Model,
• Models Based on Input/Output:
  • Data Retrieval Model
  • Information Retrieval Model
  • Knowledge Retrieval Model.

The correct answer is "(A), (B), and (C) only".

Key Points

• Web Scale Discovery Services-
  • Web Scale Discovery Services are tools capable of searching quickly and seamlessly across a vast range of local and remote content and providing relevancy-ranked results in a type of intuitive interface.
  • Web-scale discovery services enable single search box queries that reveal content from various sources.

Additional Information

• Traits of Web-Scale Discovery Services-
  • Content- 
    • These Services harvest content from local and remotely hosted repositories and create a vastly comprehensive centralized index - to the article level.  
    • Content is enabled through the harvesting of local library resources, combined with brokered agreements with publishers and aggregators allowing access to their metadata and full-text content for indexing purposes.
  • Discovery-
    • ​These services have a single
      search box providing a Google-like search
      experience (as well as advanced searching
      capabilities).
  • Delivery- 
    • These services provide quick
      results ranked by relevancy in a modern interface offering functionality and design cues intuitive to and expected by today’s users.
  • Flexibility-
    • These services are agnostic to underlying systems, whether hosted by the library or hosted remotely by content providers.
    • These services are open compared to traditional library systems and allow libraries greater latitude to customize the services and make the service it's own.

The correct answer is Search Formulation.

Key Points

•  Truncation
  • Truncation means the concatenation of words.
  • In other words, if the root string of the words is searched it brings all the derivatives derived out of the given root string.
  • ​Truncation is also known as wildcard searching.
  • It lets you search for a term and variant spellings of that term. 

Additional Information

Citation Analysis:

• ​Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in documents.
• It uses the directed graph of citations — links from one document to another document — to reveal the properties of the documents.

Machine translation:

• Machine translation is the application of computers to the task of translating text from one natural language to another.

The Correct answer is Phrase searching.

Key Points

• Phrase Searching:
  • ​Phrase searching involves placing search keywords within quotes (e.g., "...").
  • This directs the search engine to look for words that appear consecutively inside the quotes.
  • This focused approach significantly refines search results, providing more relevance.
  • In a phrase search, the system looks for the entire phrase rather than each keyword that forms the phrase.

Additional Information

• Proximity Search:
  • A proximity search enables you to define the closeness required between two or more words to constitute a match.
  • This type of search offers three categories of proximity:
    • Word Proximity
    • Sentence Proximity
    • Paragraph Proximity
• Boolean Logic:
  • ​Boolean logic serves to refine or expand a search based on the user's information retrieval preferences.
• Parenthesis:
  • ​Parenthesis is a search technique employed to dictate the order in which information is retrieved.
• Truncation, marked by an asterisk (*) during searching, aims to broaden search results.
• Wildcards, represented by special symbols, are characters aiding in information retrieval.
  • They are used to stand in for one character or letter in a word, proving especially helpful when the correct spelling is uncertain.

The Correct answer is Information retrieval: Application service

Key Points

• z39.50:
  • ​Z39.50, a precursor to the twin protocols SRU/SRW, began development in the 1970s and underwent subsequent versions in 1988, 1992, 1995, and 2003.
  • Here are the key points:
    • Protocol Overview:
      • Z39.50 is an international standard client-server protocol operating at the application layer.
      • It facilitates the search and retrieval of information from databases over a TCP/IP computer network.
    • Administration and Standards:
      • ​Administered by the Library of Congress, Z39.50 adheres to the ANSI/NISO standard Z39.50 and ISO standard 23950.
    • Search Syntax and Functionalities:
      • ​The protocol’s search syntax supports various functionalities, including search, retrieval, sort, and browse.
      • Queries are constructed using attributes from the bib-1 attribute set, allowing for complex search operations.
    • Bath Profile:
      • ​The Bath Profile was introduced to standardize search syntax and server responses, promoting uniformity across servers.
    • Alternatives:
      • ​While Z39.50 remains significant, other protocols like OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) and SPARQL offer alternatives.
    • Port Number:
      • ​The standard port number for Z39.50 is 210.
      • However, various alternative port numbers are used globally for different databases.

Additional Information

• Z39.71:
  • ​Z39.71, the ANSI/NISO Z39.71 holdings display standard, integrates conceptual holdings elements, officially referred to as Data Areas, and nine principles for recording the holdings elements, officially designated as the Principles.
  • This standard, developed by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), focuses on searching online library catalogs and retrieving bibliographic records.
• ISO 2907:2002:
  • ​ISO 2907:2002 outlines guidelines about the maximum dimensions of the film image area for projection from 35 mm motion-picture film, specifying its positioning relative to the film's perforations and reference edge.
• Z39.70:
  • Z39.70, a widely recognized client-server communication protocol, operates at the application layer.
  • It facilitates the search and retrieval of information from databases through TCP/IP computer networks.

The Correct answer is COMPUT*.

Key Points

• The notation COMPUT* is a common method used in information retrieval systems, especially in database querying or search engine applications, to retrieve results that include terms beginning with the root word "COMPUT."
• The asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard character, representing any number of characters that may follow the specified root word.
• In this context, using "COMPUT*" would return results that include not only the exact term "COMPUT" but also variations such as "COMPUTER," "COMPUTING," "COMPUTATION," and "COMPUTE," among others.
• This approach is particularly helpful in expanding search results to include various forms or derivatives of a specific word, thereby enhancing the comprehensiveness of the search.

The Correct answer is Advance search.

Key Points

• Advance search:
  • ​The term "Advance search" typically refers to a feature or functionality available in search engines that allows users to specify additional parameters or criteria to refine and customize their search results.
  • By providing specific details or filters, users can narrow down the search to find more precise and relevant information related to their query.
  • This helps users to retrieve more targeted results that align closely with their specific requirements or preferences, making the search process more efficient and effective.
  • Advanced search represents a built-in tool within Google (as well as many other search websites) that enables users to define supplementary criteria for their search.
  • Utilized for web exploration, this feature provides Google with extra data, aiding in the fine-tuning of search results.
  • Consider this scenario:
    • ​you enter the terms "auto" and "repair" into a search engine. Upon initiating the search, the engine endeavors to understand your intent, subsequently generating a list of results based on the presence of these terms. Consequently, the results may include websites related to automobiles, mechanics, and auto repair services, among others.​

Additional Information

• Brief search:
  • A brief search refers to a quick, limited, or concise search conducted to gather basic information or get a general understanding of a topic.
  • It may involve a cursory examination of available resources without delving deeply into the subject matter.
• High recall search:
  • ​High recall search is a search approach that aims to retrieve as many relevant results as possible, even if it means including some irrelevant items.
  • The primary goal is to minimize the chances of missing any potentially pertinent information, ensuring a comprehensive and exhaustive search result.
• High precision search:
  • ​High precision search is a search strategy focused on retrieving only the most relevant and accurate results, minimizing the inclusion of irrelevant or unrelated items.
  • The primary objective is to ensure that the search results are highly targeted and aligned closely with the specific requirements of the user, thus improving the overall quality of the search outcome.

The correct answer is A and C.

Key Points

• Z39.50:
  • Z39.50 is an international standard client-server, application layer communications protocol for searching and retrieving information from a database over a TCP/IP computer network,

  • It adheres to the ANSI/NISO standard Z39.50 and the ISO standard 23950.

  • It is developed and maintained by the Library of Congress.
  • Work on the Z39.50 protocol began in the 1970s by the National Information Standards Organisation (NISO) and led to successive versions in 1988, 1992, 1995, and 2003.
  • The successors to Z39.50 are the twin protocols SRU/SRW 
  • Z39.50 is commonly used in library settings for tasks like interlibrary catalog searches and loans.
  • It's often integrated into library systems and personal bibliographic reference software. Additionally, it's found in social media platforms like LibraryThing.
  • The Contextual Query Language, formerly known as the Common Query Language, is rooted in Z39.50 semantics.

Additional Information

• ​Z39.71
  • The ANSI/NISO Z39.71 holdings display standard is a combination of two things: the conceptual holdings elements (officially called Data Areas), and nine principles for recording the holdings elements (officially called the Principles).
  • Z39.71 is a standard developed by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) for searching online library catalogs and retrieving bibliographic records. ​
• Z39.70:
  • Z39.50 is a globally recognized client-server communication protocol, situated at the application layer.
  • t facilitates the search and retrieval of information from databases via TCP/IP computer networks.