ABSTRACT
In this chapter the nature of information retrieval (IR) is discussed from two broad perspectives: the first approach is one which might be described as the theoretical approach of conventional library and information science (LIS), the principles and practices of which do not necessarily depend on computer systems; while the second approach might be described as the computer application viewpoint. Information professionals and their theories and practices have influenced many of the computerized IR applications, and significant overlaps are apparent between the two viewpoints. The main aim of this chapter is to identify key themes in mainly text-based IR that are useful in a discussion about multimedia information retrieval (MMIR) in Chapter 3.
