Cross language information retrieval using ontologies

In this paper we present a description and an evaluation of ontologybased Cross-Language Information Retrieval. Earlier systems we have developed used bilingual dictionaries to support a user in selecting terms in the language of the documents being retrieved. This presents the user with the problem of deciding if the translations are the correct senses needed for the query. The system described here replaces the bilingual dictionaries by a pair of language-ontology lexicons. The user can see definitions of the senses in the ontology and then select matching terms in the target language. This allows better control of the generation of the new query in the target language.