FaSet: A Set Theory Model for Faceted Search

Faceted classification is a technique originated and refined in the library science field, that recently gained a lot of attention for creating efficient search interfaces for web databases. Faceted search requires the definition of a formal representation model, a search algorithm and a responsive user interface. This paper proposes FaSet, a representation model and search algorithm supporting the implementation of faceted search engines. FaSet relies on set theory, and strikes a good balance between expressive power and ease of implementation on web architectures. The paper presents the formal definition of the model, search and ranking algorithms, and a relational mapping of data structures and algorithms that enables its efficient implementation.