Name Searching and Information Retrieval

Abstract

The main application of name searching has been name matching in a database of names. This paper discusses a different application: improving information retrieval through name recognition. It investigates name recognition accuracy, and the effect on retrieval performance of indexing and searching personal names differently from non-name terms in the context of ranked retrieval. The main conclusions are: that name recognition in text can be effective; that names occur frequently enough in a variety of domains, including those of legal documents and news databases, to make recognition worthwhile; and that retrieval performance can be improved using name searching.