Information Retrieval Techniques for Templated Queries

Abstract

Queries in template form are gaining in popularity as a means of conveying specific information needs to search engines. We explore the utility of Information Retrieval (IR) techniques in the context of templated queries. Our investigations show that IR techniques known to be well-suited for ad hoc retrieval don't seamlessly extend to the case of templated queries. We show that what works is a combination of IR techniques and intuition-driven modifications to the templated queries, resulting in statistically significant improvements over the baseline.