Lattice-based information retrieval

A lattice-based model for information retrieval was suggested in the 1960's but has been seen as a theoretical possibility hard to practically apply ever since. This paper attempts to revive the lattice model and demonstrate its applicability in an information retrieval system, FaIR, that incorporates a graphical representation of a faceted thesaurus. It shows how Boolean queries can be lattice-theoretically related to the concepts of the thesaurus and visualized within the thesaurus display. An advantage of FaIR is that it allows for a high level of transparency of the system, which can be controlled by the user.