queriesthat

Queriesthat is a term used in information retrieval and computational linguistics to describe a class of user queries that include a that-clause to specify constraints. The pattern combines a head noun or verb with a relative clause introduced by that, as in "documents that mention climate policy" or "reports that analyze social media data." Such queries require a system to perform base retrieval and then apply the that-clause as a filter. The term is discussed in studies of query understanding and semantic interpretation, though it is not universally standardized.

Terminology and usage: Some researchers refer to "that-embedded queries" or "that-clause queries" instead of adopting the portmanteau queriesthat. The label appears mostly in theoretical discussions and experimental work on complex query forms.

Computational considerations: Mapping queriesthat to structured forms (SQL, SPARQL) or to logical forms in NLP pipelines is common. Challenges include parsing the head term and isolating the that-clause, handling ambiguity when that is optional, and deciding how the clause affects ranking and relevance scoring.

Impact and limitations: The practical value depends on the domain and the retrieval system's sophistication. Clear support for that-clauses in interfaces can improve precision but increases parsing and disambiguation requirements.

See also: Information retrieval, natural language processing, query understanding, relative clause, that-clause.