Mapping algorithms to translate natural language questions into search queries for Web databases

Access to full-text and highly structured fielded databases on the Internet has become common through client software and through Web browsers. Casual users cannot turn to librarians or fellow patrons or printed for advice. The interface and the search engine of the retrieval have to take over the task of question interpretation and translation into a syntax appropriate for the retrieval software and the database. The results of a research that compared the effectiveness of various mapping algorithms and search strategies to translate questions formulated in natural language into formal search queries are presented.