entriessuch

Entriessuch is a term used in information science to describe a search paradigm that treats individual dataset entries as the primary units of retrieval rather than documents or aggregates. In this approach, the index is built at the entry level, and queries map to specific entries that satisfy multiple attributes. The concept contrasts with traditional document-oriented search, which ranks whole documents based on a query's relevance to content.

Etymology and usage: The coinage combines "entry" and "search" and appears in exploratory discussions of database and search engine design. It is not a widely standardized term, but is used in experimental literature to describe fine-grained retrieval and disambiguation tasks.

Core principles: Entriessuch relies on granular indexing, attribute-level scoring, and precise filtering. It often employs inverted indices for entry attributes, numeric ranges, and structured metadata. Ranking emphasizes per-entry relevance and disambiguation, sometimes integrating relation signals between entries (such as lineage, hierarchy, or provenance).

Applications and limitations: The approach is well-suited to digital libraries, product catalogs, and scientific datasets where precise matches on multiple fields are essential. It can increase precision but may require more complex indexing and longer query times. It may be less effective for long, contextual queries where document-level understanding is beneficial.

See also: information retrieval, indexing, faceted search, entity extraction.