Information Classification and Navigation Based on 5WlH of the Target Information

Information Classification and Navigation Based on 5WIH of the Target Information Takahiro Ikeda and Akitoshi Okumura and Kazunori Muraki C&C Media Research Laboratories, NEC Corporation 4-1-1 Miyazaki, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 216 Abstract This paper proposes a method by which 5W1H (who, when, where, what, why, how, and predicate) infor- mation is used to classify and navigate Japanese- language texts. 5WlH information, extracted from text data, has an access platform with three func- tions: episodic retrieval, multi-dimensional classi- fication, and overall classification. In a six-month trial, the platform was used by 50 people to access 6400 newspaper articles. The three functions proved to be effective for office documentation work and the precision of extraction was approximately 82%. 1 Introduction In recent years, we have seen an explosive growth in the volume of information available through on- line networks and from large capacity storage de- vices. High-speed and large-scale retrieval tech- niques have made it possible to receive information through information services such as news clipping and keyword-based retrieval. However, information retrieval is not a purpose in itself, but a means in most cases. In office work, users use retrieval ser- vices to create various documents such as proposals and reports. Conventional retrieval services do not provide users with a good access platform to help them achieve their practical purposes (Sakamoto, 1997; Lesk et al., 1997). They have to repeat retrieval operations and classify the data for themselves. To overcome this difficulty, this paper proposes a method by which 5W1H (who, when, where, what, why, how, and predicate) information can be used to classify and navigate Japanese-language texts. 5WlH information provides users with easy- to-understand classification axes and retrieval keys because it has a set of fundamental elements needed to describe events. In this paper, we discuss common information retrieval requirements for office work and describe the three functions that our access platform us- ing 5W1H information provides: episodic retrieval, multi-dimensional classification, and overall classifi- cation. We then discuss 5WlH extraction methods, and, finally, we report on the results of a six-month trial in which 50 people, linked to a company in- tranet, used the platform to access newspaper arti- cles. 2 Retrieval Requirements In an Office Information retrieval is an extremely important part of office work, and particularly crucial in the creation of office documents. The retrieval requirements in office work can be classified into three types. Episodic viewpoint: We are often required to make an episode, temporal transition data on a cer- tain event. For example, "Company X succeeded in developing a two-gigabyte memory" makes the user want to investigate what kind of events were announced about Company X's memory before this event. The user has to collect the related events and then arrange them in temporal order to make an episode. Comparative viewpoint: The comparative view- point is familiar to office workers. For example, when the user fills out a purchase request form to buy a product, he has to collect comparative infor- mation on price, performance and so …

Content truncated to 500 words