Defining topic boundaries in search engine transaction logs using genetic algorithms

Abstract

This study proposes to use genetic algorithms for defining the topic boundaries in search of engine transaction logs. Users are interested in multiple topics during a search session, and genetic algorithms are used in this study to determine whether a search engine user has changed topics during a session. Sample data logs from FAST and Excite search engines were analyzed. The findings show that genetic algorithms are fairly successful in identifying topic continuations and shifts in search engine transaction logs.