Towards Exploratory Search of Scientific Information

The talk introduces design and algorithms behind an information

retrieval system developed to support scientists in finding specific scientific literature. 

The main goal of the system is to assist scientists in situations where their ability to express 

their information needs is difficult  or their knowledge of a given research area is limited. 

The system provides an interface which allows the user to explore a

given database of scientific articles through giving feedback on

keywords associated with the displayed articles. We incorporate a

number of exploration-exploitation strategies into the system in order

to support the users' exploratory search behavior. Initial user study indicates 

that the system makes users'  perception

of the article space and finding relevant articles easier.