Example - InterWATER thesaurus - noise

‘Noise’ in the retrieval of information

The searcher should be aware of a phenomenon that is known to occur yet is difficult to remedy. This is a form of so-called ‘noise’ in the retrieval of information resulting from the false coordination of preferred terms. At retrieval, all the citations presented will have been indexed with, amongst others, all the preferred terms that are requested in the search query.

For example, if you are searching for ‘Information on the effects on fish of insecticides applied against mosquitoes’, then the query string would contain the preferred terms: FISH, INSECTICIDES, MOSQUITOES. The citations retrieved would then contain a mixture of information, not only on the effects of insecticides on fish but also on their effects on mosquitoes.