A General Mathematical Model for Information Retrieval Systems

This paper presents a mathematical model of an information retrieval system thought to be general enough to serve as an abstract representation of most document and reference retrieval systems. The model is made up of four components that, in one form or another, appear in every functioning system. It is proved that the basic organization of documents that the system provides for a user on receipt of a request follows from the properties and interrelations of the four components. Each component is then discussed in turn and it is seen that much of the existing theory regarding information systems can be viewed as an elaboration of this model.