Graphical information retrieval by browsing meta-information

This paper discusses an approach to alleviate the problem in information retrieval of finding the right information. This problem arises in traditional query-based systems when users do not have enough knowledge about the domain or if they do not have an articulate information need. We address this problem by combining information about the documents and about the domain of the documents. This meta-information can then be browsed by the users with a graphical browser. Several navigation aids help the user to find his way. The system contains a representation of the medical domain and records from the Medline literature database. The paper discusses the representation of the meta-information, the browser and the evaluation of the system.