My research interests lie at the intersection of information science, computer science and linguistics. At a theoretical level, my goal is to understand the impact of properties of human language such as ambiguity and irregularity on the exchange of information among people and between people and computers. At the applied level, my research focuses on using computer technology to improve people’s access to information stored in the form of language. Current projects include assessment of the quality of index terms as used in electronic indexes and browsing systems, identification of cognitive factors that inhibit information seekers from recognizing useful query terms and development of a theory of query term formulation in the information access process. I have also published on evaluation of question answering systems, identification of proper names and anatomical ontologies.