A Dempster-Shafer model of relevance

The authors present a model for representing relevance and classification decisions of multiple catalogers in the context of a hierarchical bibliographical database. The model is based on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. Concepts such as ambiguous relevance, inexact classification, and pooled classification are discussed using the nomenclature of belief functions and the Dempster rule. The model thus gives a normative framework in which it is possible to describe and address many problematic phenomena which characterize the way people classify and retrieve documents