David Blair - Revision history

Smith2 at 18:06, 10 June 2025

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	== Life ==		== Life ==
	'''David Clark Blair''' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley he studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.		'''David Clark Blair''' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley he studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in everyday ("mundane") searches.
	He also served in the US Navy and remained in the US Navy Reserve until 1989.		He also served in the US Navy and remained in the US Navy Reserve until 1989.

Smith2 at 22:01, 20 May 2025

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	== Publications ==		== Publications ==
			*"Information retrieval." ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 30.o 6.
			*"Searching biases in large, interactive document retrieval systems." ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 31, no 3.
	*An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system," with [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]]. ''Communications of the ACM'' 28, no 3 (March 1985): 289-299. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3166.3197]		*An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system," with [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]]. ''Communications of the ACM'' 28, no 3 (March 1985): 289-299. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3166.3197]
	*"STAIRS Redux: Thoughts on the STAIRS evaluation, Ten Years After," ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 47, no.1 (Blair, 1996): 4-22.		*"STAIRS Redux: Thoughts on the STAIRS evaluation, Ten Years After," ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 47, no.1 (Blair, 1996): 4-22.
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	== Awards ==		== Awards ==
	[[ASIST\|American Society for Information Science]]. Best Information Science Book of the Year 1990.		[[ASIST\|American Society for Information Science]]. Best Information Science Book of the Year, 1990.

	== Further reading ==		== Further reading ==
	*"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'', May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]		*"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'', May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]
	*Wittgenstein, Ludwig. ''Philosophical investigations.'' Various editions, 1953- .		*Wittgenstein, Ludwig. ''Philosophical investigations.'' Various editions, 1953- .

Smith2 at 22:59, 6 February 2025

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	*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, 1990.		*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, 1990.
	*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''		*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''
			*"The data-document distinction in information retrieval." ''Communications of the ACM'' 27, no 4 (1984): 369-374.
	*"The data-document distinction revisited." ''The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems''. 37, no. 1 (Winter 2006) 77-96.		*"The data-document distinction revisited." ''The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems''. 37, no. 1 (Winter 2006) 77-96.

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	== Further reading ==		== Further reading ==
	"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'', May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]		*"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'', May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]
			*Wittgenstein, Ludwig. ''Philosophical investigations.'' Various editions, 1953- .

Smith2 at 22:41, 6 February 2025

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	== Life ==		== Life ==
	'''David Clark Blair''' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.		'''David Clark Blair''' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley he studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.
			He also served in the US Navy and remained in the US Navy Reserve until 1989.

	Blair became professor of business information technology in the Ross School of Business at ~~The~~		After his doctoral studies, Blair became professor of business information technology in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan until, after a long illness, he died in May 2011.
	University of Michigan until, after a long illness, he died in May 2011.

	== Contributions ==		== Contributions ==
	*Demonstration of the retrieval inadequacy of searching unedited natural language text without vocabulary control. Blair and [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]] were commissioned to assess the adequacy of the STAIRS system which simply looked for search terms in an unedited text corpus when used for evidence discovery in a law suit. Legal assistants thought they were finding 70% of relevant documents (70% recall). Blair and Maron determined that they were in fact retrieving only about 20%, largely because of variety in word usage. For example, a search for documents about accidents using the term "accident" would not retrieve a document if the politer term "incident" had been used. This paper is regarded as a classic in the information retrieval literature.		*Demonstration of the retrieval inadequacy of searching unedited natural language text without vocabulary control. Blair and [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]] were commissioned to assess the adequacy of the STAIRS system, which simply looked for search terms in an unedited text corpus, when used for evidence discovery for a law suit. Legal assistants thought they were finding 70% of relevant documents (70% recall). Blair and Maron determined that they were in fact retrieving only about 20%, largely because of variety in word usage. For example, a search for documents about accidents using the term "accident" would not retrieve a document if the politer term "incident" had been used. This paper is regarded as a classic in the information retrieval literature.
	*Blair argued that in contrast to an emphasis on categorization, the philosophy of language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language~~, and~~ within the philosophy of language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.		*Blair argued that in contrast to an emphasis on categorization, the philosophy of language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language. And within the philosophy of language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.
	*His numerous other publications included discussion of the distinction between data retrieval and document retrieval.		*His numerous other publications included discussion of the distinction between data retrieval and document retrieval.

Smith2 at 21:19, 6 February 2025

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	== Life ==		== Life ==
	'''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.		'''David Clark Blair''' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.

	Blair became professor of ~~Business Information Technology~~ in the Ross School of Business at The		Blair became professor of business information technology in the Ross School of Business at The
	University of Michigan until, after a long illness, he died in May 2011.		University of Michigan until, after a long illness, he died in May 2011.

			== Contributions ==
			*Demonstration of the retrieval inadequacy of searching unedited natural language text without vocabulary control. Blair and [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]] were commissioned to assess the adequacy of the STAIRS system which simply looked for search terms in an unedited text corpus when used for evidence discovery in a law suit. Legal assistants thought they were finding 70% of relevant documents (70% recall). Blair and Maron determined that they were in fact retrieving only about 20%, largely because of variety in word usage. For example, a search for documents about accidents using the term "accident" would not retrieve a document if the politer term "incident" had been used. This paper is regarded as a classic in the information retrieval literature.
			*Blair argued that in contrast to an emphasis on categorization, the philosophy of language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language, and within the philosophy of language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.
			*His numerous other publications included discussion of the distinction between data retrieval and document retrieval.

	== Publications ==		== Publications ==
	*An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system," with [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]]. ''Communications of the ACM'' 28, no 3 (March 1985): 289-299. This evaluation of the retrieval performance of the STAIRS system that searched for words in an unedited full-text corpus is regarded as a classic in the information retrieval literature. Users who thought they were finding 70% of relevant documents (i.e., 70% recall) were in fact retrieving only about 20% because of variety in word usage. For example, a search for documents about ''accidents'' using the term "accident" would not retrieve a document if the politer term "incident" had been used. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3166.3197]		*An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system," with [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]]. ''Communications of the ACM'' 28, no 3 (March 1985): 289-299. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3166.3197]
	*"STAIRS Redux: Thoughts on the STAIRS evaluation, Ten Years After," ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 47, no.1 (Blair, 1996): 4-22.		*"STAIRS Redux: Thoughts on the STAIRS evaluation, Ten Years After," ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 47, no.1 (Blair, 1996): 4-22.
	*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' ~~Blair stated that the Philosophy of Language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language~~, ~~and within the Philosophy of Language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive~~.		*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers, 1990.
	*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''~~continuation of the~~		*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''
			*"The data-document distinction revisited." ''The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems''. 37, no. 1 (Winter 2006) 77-96.

	== Awards ==		== Awards ==

Smith2 at 20:49, 6 February 2025

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← Older revision		Revision as of 16:49, 6 February 2025
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	== Life ==		== Life ==
	'''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and then a PhD from the University of California Berkeley. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ~~and~~ died .		'''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, and then a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1981. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, ''Pragmatic aspects of inquiry'', directed by [[Patrick Wilson]], examined the use of language in searches.

			Blair became professor of Business Information Technology in the Ross School of Business at The
			University of Michigan until, after a long illness, he died in May 2011.

	== Publications ==		== Publications ==
			*An evaluation of retrieval effectiveness for a full-text document-retrieval system," with [[Melvin Earl (Bill) Maron\|M. E. Maron]]. ''Communications of the ACM'' 28, no 3 (March 1985): 289-299. This evaluation of the retrieval performance of the STAIRS system that searched for words in an unedited full-text corpus is regarded as a classic in the information retrieval literature. Users who thought they were finding 70% of relevant documents (i.e., 70% recall) were in fact retrieving only about 20% because of variety in word usage. For example, a search for documents about ''accidents'' using the term "accident" would not retrieve a document if the politer term "incident" had been used. [https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3166.3197]
			*"STAIRS Redux: Thoughts on the STAIRS evaluation, Ten Years After," ''Journal of the American Society for Information Science'' 47, no.1 (Blair, 1996): 4-22.
	*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Blair stated that the Philosophy of Language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language, and within the Philosophy of Language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.		*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Blair stated that the Philosophy of Language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language, and within the Philosophy of Language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.

	*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''continuation of the		*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''continuation of the

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	== Further reading ==		== Further reading ==
	"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'' May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]		"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'', May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]

Smith2: Created page with "'''David C. Blair''' (1947-2011) was an American information retrieval expert. == Life == '''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and then a PhD from the University of California Berkeley. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, and died . ==..."

2025-02-06T20:09:40Z

Created page with "'''David C. Blair''' (1947-2011) was an American information retrieval expert. == Life == '''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and then a PhD from the University of California Berkeley. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, and died . ==..."

New page

'''David C. Blair''' (1947-2011) was an American information retrieval expert.

== Life ==
'''David Clark Blair'' was born on May 23, 1947 in Salem, Oregon. After living in Taiwan and Pakistan, he received a BA degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and then a PhD from the University of California Berkeley. At Berkeley studied in the School of Library and Information Studies (later renamed School of Information). His doctoral dissertation, and died .

== Publications ==
*''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.'' Blair stated that the Philosophy of Language had the best theory for understanding meaning in language, and within the Philosophy of Language, the work of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was found to be most perceptive.

*''Wittgenstein, language, and information : back to the rough ground!'' Dordrecht : Springer, 2006. A extension of the discussions in ''Language and Representation in Information Retrieval.''continuation of the

== Awards ==
[[ASIST|American Society for Information Science]]. Best Information Science Book of the Year 1990.

== Further reading ==
"David Clark Blair." [Obituary] ''Ann Arbor News'' May 15, 2011. [https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/search?affiliateId=876]