{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4416409628","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445","title":"Rethinking Information Retrieval in a Re-Decentralised Web: Exploring the Feasibility and Quality of Search Across Personal Online Datastores","display_name":"Rethinking Information Retrieval in a Re-Decentralised Web: Exploring the Feasibility and Quality of Search Across Personal Online Datastores","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-11-20","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4416409628","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3777445","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S131231701","display_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","issn_l":"1559-1131","issn":["1559-1131","1559-114X"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5119861825","display_name":"Mohammad Bahrani","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1821-4856"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I43439940","display_name":"University of Southampton","ror":"https://ror.org/01ryk1543","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Mohammad Bahrani","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Southampton","University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1821-4856","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101606061","display_name":"Mohamed Ragab","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9048-7873"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I43439940","display_name":"University of Southampton","ror":"https://ror.org/01ryk1543","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mohamed Ragab","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Southampton","University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9048-7873","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5012153976","display_name":"Helen Oliver","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1467-8165"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I98259816","display_name":"Birkbeck, University of London","ror":"https://ror.org/02mb95055","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I124357947","https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Helen Oliver","raw_affiliation_strings":["Birkbeck University of London","Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1467-8165","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5078041422","display_name":"Thanassis Tiropanis","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-2852"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I43439940","display_name":"University of Southampton","ror":"https://ror.org/01ryk1543","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Thanassis Tiropanis","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Southampton","University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-2852","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5013015057","display_name":"Adriane Chapman","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3814-2587"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I43439940","display_name":"University of Southampton","ror":"https://ror.org/01ryk1543","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Adriane Chapman","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Southampton","University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3814-2587","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5051400056","display_name":"Alexandra Poulovassilis","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8981-4104"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I98259816","display_name":"Birkbeck, University of London","ror":"https://ror.org/02mb95055","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I124357947","https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Alexandra Poulovassilis","raw_affiliation_strings":["Birkbeck University of London","Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8981-4104","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5008545219","display_name":"George Roussos","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7665-7303"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I98259816","display_name":"Birkbeck, University of London","ror":"https://ror.org/02mb95055","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I124357947","https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}],"countries":["GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"George Roussos","raw_affiliation_strings":["Birkbeck University of London","Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7665-7303","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Birkbeck University of London, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":7,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5119861825"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":3.7232,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":1,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.94440101,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":96,"max":98},"biblio":{"volume":"20","issue":"1","first_page":"1","last_page":"24"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11045","display_name":"Privacy, Security, and Data Protection","score":0.2892000079154968,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11045","display_name":"Privacy, Security, and Data Protection","score":0.2892000079154968,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3312","display_name":"Sociology and Political Science"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10286","display_name":"Information Retrieval and Search Behavior","score":0.16619999706745148,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10764","display_name":"Privacy-Preserving Technologies in Data","score":0.121799997985363,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/relevance","display_name":"Relevance (law)","score":0.7645999789237976},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/focus","display_name":"Focus (optics)","score":0.5234000086784363},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quality","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","score":0.5109999775886536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/cognitive-models-of-information-retrieval","display_name":"Cognitive models of information retrieval","score":0.46389999985694885},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/online-search","display_name":"Online search","score":0.4438000023365021},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/search-engine","display_name":"Search engine","score":0.4410000145435333},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/adversarial-information-retrieval","display_name":"Adversarial information retrieval","score":0.41449999809265137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/key","display_name":"Key (lock)","score":0.41269999742507935}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.8154000043869019},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C158154518","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7310970","display_name":"Relevance (law)","level":2,"score":0.7645999789237976},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C23123220","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816826","display_name":"Information retrieval","level":1,"score":0.5322999954223633},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C192209626","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190909","display_name":"Focus (optics)","level":2,"score":0.5234000086784363},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779530757","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1207505","display_name":"Quality (philosophy)","level":2,"score":0.5109999775886536},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C21025794","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5141219","display_name":"Cognitive models of information retrieval","level":4,"score":0.46389999985694885},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C171089853","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7094123","display_name":"Online search","level":2,"score":0.4438000023365021},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C97854310","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19541","display_name":"Search engine","level":2,"score":0.4410000145435333},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C116425068","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4686695","display_name":"Adversarial information retrieval","level":5,"score":0.41449999809265137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C26517878","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228039","display_name":"Key (lock)","level":2,"score":0.41269999742507935},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.4090000092983246},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C551230270","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4368942","display_name":"Data retrieval","level":2,"score":0.40630000829696655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C90288658","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3318149","display_name":"Human\u2013computer information retrieval","level":3,"score":0.3765000104904175},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.34599998593330383},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C527821871","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228502","display_name":"Access control","level":2,"score":0.32089999318122864},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C123201435","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q456632","display_name":"Information privacy","level":2,"score":0.3100999891757965},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C161156560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1638872","display_name":"Document retrieval","level":2,"score":0.3061999976634979},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C169093310","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3702971","display_name":"Personally identifiable information","level":2,"score":0.30079999566078186},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C24756922","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1757694","display_name":"Data quality","level":3,"score":0.2935999929904938},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779532271","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q445558","display_name":"Relevance feedback","level":4,"score":0.2921999990940094},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776543384","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q593289","display_name":"Information access","level":2,"score":0.2892000079154968},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C47487241","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5227230","display_name":"Data access","level":2,"score":0.2770000100135803},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C99016210","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5488129","display_name":"Query expansion","level":2,"score":0.2639999985694885}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":3,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3777445","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S131231701","display_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","issn_l":"1559-1131","issn":["1559-1131","1559-114X"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:507324","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://doi.org/10.1145/3777445>).","pdf_url":"https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/507324/2/3777445.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306401019","display_name":"ePrints Soton (University of Southampton)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I43439940","host_organization_name":"University of Southampton","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I43439940"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"acceptedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"PeerReviewed"},{"id":"pmh:oai:eprints.bbk.ac.uk.oai2:56764","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":null,"pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400466","display_name":"BIROn (Birkbeck, University of London)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I98259816","host_organization_name":"Birkbeck, University of London","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I98259816"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"acceptedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"PeerReviewed"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3777445","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3777445","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S131231701","display_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","issn_l":"1559-1131","issn":["1559-1131","1559-114X"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on the Web","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G3175261944","display_name":"ESPRESSO: Efficient Search over Personal Repositories - Secure and Sovereign","funder_award_id":"EP/W024659/1","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334627","funder_display_name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320334627","display_name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council","ror":"https://ror.org/0439y7842"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":20,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1965564198","https://openalex.org/W1986828474","https://openalex.org/W2031533839","https://openalex.org/W2121531691","https://openalex.org/W2165612380","https://openalex.org/W2767079719","https://openalex.org/W2963026768","https://openalex.org/W3012606812","https://openalex.org/W3216699651","https://openalex.org/W4381513224","https://openalex.org/W4383755570","https://openalex.org/W4386436235","https://openalex.org/W4391359289","https://openalex.org/W4396843732","https://openalex.org/W4400933825","https://openalex.org/W4401381293","https://openalex.org/W4404684768","https://openalex.org/W4405107177","https://openalex.org/W4415797223","https://openalex.org/W4416017061"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Traditional":[0],"information":[1],"retrieval":[2,177],"(IR)":[3],"models,":[4],"such":[5,70],"as":[6,158],"keyword-based":[7],"and":[8,28,57,111,124,151,190],"vector-based":[9],"techniques,":[10],"have":[11,98],"long":[12],"been":[13],"used":[14],"in":[15,37,69,82,106,133,175],"centralized":[16,180],"systems.":[17],"However,":[18],"the":[19,83],"Web\u2019s":[20],"re-decentralization,":[21],"with":[22],"its":[23],"focus":[24],"on":[25,164],"data":[26,192],"ownership":[27],"privacy,":[29],"calls":[30],"for":[31,42,89,161],"a":[32,125,134,165],"re-evaluation":[33],"of":[34,78,148],"these":[35,38,61,131],"methods":[36,143],"settings.":[39],"While":[40],"standards":[41],"decentralized":[43,84,118,162],"search":[44,96,119,163,181],"enhance":[45],"privacy":[46],"to":[47,116,179],"some":[48],"extent,":[49],"they":[50],"also":[51],"introduce":[52],"computational":[53],"overhead,":[54],"black-box":[55],"decision-making,":[56],"infrastructure":[58],"complexity.":[59],"Despite":[60],"challenges,":[62],"traditional":[63,79],"IR":[64,80,142],"techniques":[65],"remain":[66],"largely":[67],"unexplored":[68],"environments.":[71],"This":[72],"article":[73],"presents":[74],"an":[75,145],"innovative":[76],"application":[77],"models":[81,132],"Web":[85],"by":[86],"adapting":[87],"them":[88,115],"Personal":[90],"Online":[91],"Data":[92],"Stores":[93],"(PODs),":[94],"where":[95],"parties":[97],"varying":[99],"access":[100,193],"rights.":[101],"We":[102],"explore":[103],"their":[104],"role":[105],"source":[107],"selection,":[108],"document":[109],"ranking,":[110],"result":[112],"merging,":[113],"extending":[114],"meet":[117],"demands.":[120],"Using":[121],"Solid":[122],"PODs":[123],"synthetic":[126],"medical":[127],"dataset,":[128],"we":[129],"evaluate":[130],"privacy-sensitive":[135],"environment.":[136],"Our":[137],"findings":[138],"demonstrate":[139],"that":[140],"extended":[141],"provide":[144],"effective":[146],"balance":[147],"performance,":[149],"interpretability,":[150],"efficiency.":[152],"These":[153],"approaches":[154],"hold":[155],"strong":[156],"potential":[157],"privacy-preserving":[159],"alternatives":[160],"re-decentralized":[166],"Web.":[167],"Notably,":[168],"our":[169],"top-performing":[170],"model":[171],"achieved":[172],"competitive":[173],"results":[174],"top-item":[176],"compared":[178],"systems,":[182],"maintaining":[183],"high":[184],"relevance":[185],"scores":[186],"under":[187],"both":[188],"limited":[189],"full":[191],"conditions.":[194]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1}],"updated_date":"2026-02-19T06:27:42.648592","created_date":"2025-11-20T00:00:00"}