Introduction

Slightly blandly defined by the Online Oxford English Dictionary as "the tracing of information stored in books, computers, or other collections of reference material," information retrieval, to me, deals with the recovery of information.

Interestingly, the idea that retrieval means recovery speaks to the concept and sense, also reality, that the information exists "out there"; however, it simply needs to be, not only accessed, but retrieved or recovered. Moreover, as the handy Online OED further explains, "to retrieve" is to "find or discover again"; "find and bring in"; "recall"; "restore"; "rediscover" . . . okay, you get the idea.

Therefore, it is as if to say, "you already knew this, you simply forgot that you did." Sound absurd? Well, not really, because, more often than not, when we retrieve information we do so based upon our own knowledge. We ask ourselves questions like:

• "Where do I think I can find this information?"
• "Which keywords will properly and efficiently access the info I need?"
• "Does the material I've found answer my informational want or need?" . . . and so on
  

Therefore, my interest in information retrieval exists in the ways in which users go about the retrieval itself. I also find interest in the processes the mind goes through simply intellectually, abstractly, or even, sometimes, emotionally when not only in the actual process of retrieval, but also during the experience of being faced with the task of having to retrieve information.

Hopefully, during the next few weeks, through out my dabbling studies in this topic, the many theories and theorists dealing with the matter will provide insight and further questions to boggle the mind.

Information. Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://dictionary.oed.com