Although the accuracy of the information relied on in formulating known-item search queries is generally regarded as critical to the search success of those queries, it has been observed that in some cases, such as music information retrieval, searching is often successful even when the information the queries are based on is flawed. Resolving this puzzle is important to a comprehensive understanding of information seeking in general and, perhaps, the success of new social indexing strategies in particular. One promising source of insight is the area of linguistics known as pragmatics. We show how a particular concept from pragmatics, the attributive/referential distinction, can illuminate how queries can function effectively independently of the apparent accuracy of the information they seem to rely on. This suggests possible new directions for the development of more effective information retrieval systems.
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