Integrating structured data and text: a multi-dimensional approach

Abstract

Multidimensional databases are used for online analytic processing (OLAP) applications with great success. We introduce a method of using OLAP techniques on a text collection: combining text searching and ranking techniques from information retrieval and the slicing, dicing, and drill-down from OLAP. Our approach integrates structured and unstructured data and takes advantage of the data hierarchies found in the structured data. We describe a prototype where standard multidimensional database tools are used to implement typical information retrieval functionality such as Boolean retrieval and relevance ranking.