scopesuch

Scopesuch is a hypothetical model used in information science to describe how search queries can be scoped by combining general categories with flexible qualifiers. The term is a portmanteau of scope and such, indicating that a user can articulate the intended reach of a search by specifying a scope level and then applying qualifiers that refine that scope.

Conceptually, scopesuch treats a search as a two-layer process: first determine the target domain or scope (for example, "documents from the 20th century" or "media within the science collection"), then apply qualifiers derived from natural-language prompts or structured facets (such as author, date, location, or type). The "such" component serves as a placeholder for any qualifier the user might want to attach to the scope.

In practice, scopesuch-inspired interfaces could present users with light scaffolding: selectable scope presets (global, departmental, project-specific), along with an area for qualification prompts or facet filters. The approach aims to make complex queries more intuitive by explicitly separating where to search from what to search.

Potential applications include digital libraries, enterprise search systems, knowledge graphs, and data repositories where users frequently adjust the breadth of retrieval. Advocates argue that it can reduce cognitive load by mapping natural-language intent to structured constraints, while critics warn that the abstraction can introduce ambiguity and performance concerns if qualifiers are inconsistently applied.

Because scopesuch is a conceptual model rather than a standardized method, its usefulness depends on interface design, user training, and the quality of underlying metadata. It remains a topic of discussion in design studies and information-retrieval pedagogy.

See also: information retrieval, facets, query expansion, scope, metadata.