Using complexity measures in information retrieval

Abstract

Although IR is meant to serve its users, surprisingly little IR research is not user-centered. In contrast, this article utilizes the concept complexity of information as the determinant of the user's comprehension, not as a formal golden measure. Four aspects of user's comprehension are applies on a database of simple and normal Wikipedia articles and found to distinguish between them. The results underline the feasibility of the principle of parsimony for IR: where two topical articles are available, the simpler one is preferred.