Stephen Robertson (computer scientist)
{{Short description|British computer scientist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Stephen Robertson
| image =
| image_size = 100px
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1946|4|6}}
| nationality = British
| field = Computer science
| alma_mater = Cambridge, City University, University College London
| doctoral_advisor = B.C (Bertie) Brookes
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Work on information retrieval and inverse document frequency
| prizes = Gerard Salton Award (2000), Tony Kent Strix award (1998), ACM Fellow (2013)
| website = {{URL|https://staff.city.ac.uk/~sbrp622/}}
}}
Stephen Robertson is a British computer scientist. He is known for his work on probabilistic information retrieval together with Karen Spärck Jones{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1002/asi.4630270302| title = Relevance weighting of search terms| journal = Journal of the American Society for Information Science| volume = 27| issue = 3| pages = 129| year = 1976| last1 = Robertson | first1 = S. E. | authorlink1 = Stephen Robertson (computer scientist)| last2 = Spärck Jones | first2 = K. | authorlink2 = Karen Spärck Jones}} and the Okapi BM25 weighting model.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0306-4573(00)00015-7| title = A probabilistic model of information retrieval: Development and comparative experiments: Part 1| journal = Information Processing & Management| volume = 36| issue = 6| pages = 779–808| year = 2000| last1 = Spärck Jones | first1 = K. | authorlink1 = Karen Spärck Jones| last2 = Walker | first2 = S.| last3 = Robertson | first3 = S. E. | authorlink3 = Stephen Robertson (computer scientist)| citeseerx = 10.1.1.134.6108| s2cid = 1965284}}{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0306-4573(00)00016-9| title = A probabilistic model of information retrieval: Development and comparative experiments: Part 2| journal = Information Processing & Management| volume = 36| issue = 6| pages = 809–840| year = 2000| last1 = Spärck Jones | first1 = K. | authorlink1 = Karen Spärck Jones| last2 = Walker | first2 = S. | last3 = Robertson | first3 = S. E. | authorlink3 = Stephen Robertson (computer scientist)}}
Early life
Robertson was born in London, England,{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} to (Theodosia) Cecil, née Spring Rice (1921–1984) and Martin Robertson (1911–2004),{{Cite ODNB| url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-94618 |title= Robertson, (Charles) Martin (1911–2004), archaeologist and poet|last=Boardman|first= John|date= 3 January 2008|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/94618}} an internationally distinguished professor of Classical Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of London, Oxford University, and Trinity College, Cambridge. His younger brother is composer and musician Thomas Dolby.
Career
Okapi BM25 is very successful in experimental search evaluations and found its way in many information retrieval systems and products, including open source search systems like Lucene, Lemur, Xapian, and Terrier. BM25 is used as one of the most important signals in large web search engines, certainly in Microsoft Bing, and probably in other web search engines too. BM25 is also used in various other Microsoft products such as Microsoft SharePoint and SQL Server.{{Cite journal | title = Celebrating Stephen Robertson's Retirement | journal = BCS IRSG Informer | year = 2013 | last1 = Hiemstra | first1 = D. | last2 = Tait | first2 = J. | last3 = MacFarlane | first3 = A. | last4 = Belkin | first4 = N. J. | authorlink4 = Nicholas J. Belkin | url=https://irsg.bcs.org/informer/2013/10/celebrating-stephen-robertson%e2%80%99s-retirement/ }}
After completing his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Cambridge University, he took an MS at City University, and then worked for ASLIB. He earned his PhD at University College London in 1976 under the renowned statistician and scholar B. C. Brookes.{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Stephen |title=Brief CV |url=https://www.staff.city.ac.uk/~sbrp622/cv2013.html |website=Stephen Robertson, Information Science |access-date=19 November 2022 |date=December 2013}} He then returned to City University working there from 1978 until 1998 in the Department of Information Science, continuing as a part-time professor and subsequently as professor emeritus. He is also a fellow of Girton College, Cambridge University. Now retired, Robertson is professor emeritus at City University, and a visiting professor in the Department of Computer Science at UCL.{{Cite web | url=https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dh/2014/01/21/robertsonprize/ | title=The Stephen Robertson Prize | UCL UCL Centre for Digital Humanities}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Publications
- {{cite book|last1=Robertson|first1=Stephen|last2=Zaragoza|first2=Hugo|title=The Probabilistic Relevance Framework: BM25 and Beyond|date=2009|publisher=NOW Publishers, Inc.|isbn=978-1-60198-308-4|url=http://staff.city.ac.uk/~sb317/papers/foundations_bm25_review.pdf}}
- {{cite book|last1=Robertson|first1=Stephen|title=B C, Before Computers|date=2020|publisher=Open Book Publishers|doi=10.11647/OBP.0225|isbn=978-1-80064-029-0|s2cid=226361310 |doi-access=free }}
{{Authority control}}
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Category:British computer scientists
Category:Alumni of University College London
Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge
Category:Alumni of City, University of London
Category:Academics of City, University of London