IN DEPTH


Persistence, vision, networks, collaboration – leadership in information retrieval research


CILIP’s UK e-information Group has long championed research that improves information retrieval (IR) through its Tony Kent Strix Award. Here Gary Horrocks looks at the work of 2021 winner Ian Ruthven and the enduring infl uence of past research to ensure innovation continues to defi ne IR.


THE library and information science community has its share of inspira- tional research pioneers building a corpus of knowledge to infl uence and construct the future. Intuitive search interface design, the psychology and mechanics of information retrieval (IR) and information seeking behav- iour are key development priorities. In December 2021 Ian Ruthven, Professor of Information Seeking and Retrieval at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, presented the seventh annual Strix Memorial Lecture entitled: ‘Google’s what you use when Alexa doesn’t know the answer, Uncle Ian.’ The prestigious international Tony Kent Strix Award was presented to him in late 2020, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the fi eld of IR. The award, inaugurated in 1998 by the Institute of Information Scientists, is presented by CILIP’s Special Interest Group UKeiG in partnership with the International Society for Knowledge Organisation UK (ISKO UK), the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Infor mation and Computer Applications


28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


Gary Horrocks, UK e-information Group.


Group (RSC CICAG) and the British Computer Society Information Retrieval Specialist Group (BCS IRSG).


Nomination Ian’s departmental colleague Dr David McMenemy nominated him for the award. “Ian’s research is focused on the human experience of interacting with information. This involves understanding how and why people approach the task of


January-February 2023


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