Introduction to information extraction

Abstract

In recent years, analysts have been confronted with the increasing availability of ondline sources of information in the form of naturaldlanguage texts. This increased accessibility of textual information has led to a corresponding interest in technology for processing this text automatically to extract taskdrelevant information. This demand for a technological solution to the need to deal with the oftendoverwhelming quantity of available information has stimulated the development of the field of Information Extraction. This article provides an overview of the problems addressed, current approaches toward solutions, and assesses the state of the art and its potential for future progress.