State of the Art Study on Natural Language Based Question Answering Systems (Studie zum Stand der Forschung ueber Natuerlichsprachliche Frage/Antwort-Systeme)

摘要

This study analyzes and reports important aspects on the state of art in natural language based question answering systems. It is intended for researchers, developers, and sponsors in the field of information and documentation. An introduction to the problems of this field of research is given. The design of question answering systems and techniques used to realize their components are presented as well as the background of such systems. The orientation towards practical applications of question answering systems and criteria for their evaluation are discussed. A number of statements summarizes the current state of art and future developments. The study concludes with short descriptions of selected systems and with a glossary.