What is "document retrieval"

n. (context information science English) The matching of a user query against a set of free-text records, including unstructured text, such as newspaper articles, real-estate records or paragraphs in a manual.

Document retrieval is defined as the matching of some stated user query against a set of free-text records. These records could be any type of mainly unstructured text, such as newspaper articles, real estate records or paragraphs in a manual. User queries can range from multi-sentence full descriptions of an information need to a few words.

Document retrieval is sometimes referred to as, or as a branch of, text retrieval. Text retrieval is a branch of information retrieval where the information is stored primarily in the form of text. Text databases became decentralized thanks to the personal computer and the CD-ROM. Text retrieval is a critical area of study today, since it is the fundamental basis of all internet search engines.