Improving non-English web searching (iNEWS07)

This workshop attempted to promote the discussion and the research on non-English Web searching. Most search engines were first built for English. They do not take full account of inflectional semantics nor, for example, diacritics or the use of capitals. Our main aim was to discuss the additional problems faced in non-English Web queries and to suggest techniques to improve the response of searching systems. Papers related to Arabic, Basque, Farsi (Persian), Greek, Spanish, Swedish, Hindi, Bengali and other south asian languages were accepted. Conclusions were that search engines would be more effective if they took more account of the properties of individual languages, and that there is a need for more studies of real user behaviour in practical situations.