Keyword querying and ranking in databases

Abstract

With the proliferation of data sources exposed through web interfaces to consumers, simple ways of exploring contents of such databases are of increasing importance. Examples include users wishing to search catalogs of homes, cars, cameras, restaurants, and photographs. One approach that has been explored is to allow users to query such databases in the same ways as they explore web documents. Thus, it is desirable to be able to use the paradigm of keyword querying and automated result ranking over contents of databases. However, the rich relationships and schema information present in databases makes a direct adaptation of information retrieval techniques inappropriate. This problem has attracted much attention in research as it presents a rich set of challenges from defining semantics of such querying model to developing algorithms that ensure adequate performance. In this tutorial, we focus on the highlights of research progress in this field.