A Dempster-Shafer Model of Relevance

We present a model for representing relevance and classification decisions ofmultiple catalogers in the context of a hierarchical bibliographical database.The model is based on the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence. Conceptslike ambiguous relevance, inexact classification, and pooled classification, arediscussed using the nomenclature of belief functions and Dempster's rule.The model thus gives a normative framework in which one can describe andaddress many problematic phenomena which characterize the way peopleclassify and retrieve documents