---
title: "A Progress Report on the Use of English in Information Retrieval"
description: "Moyne reports on Proto-RELADES, an IBM Boston Programming Center system that has run since June 1967. 11 references."
authors: ["J. A. Moyne"]
year: 1969
venue: "International Conference on Computational Linguistics COLING 1969: Preprint No. 40"
source: "https://aclanthology.org/C69-4001/"
licence: "CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/moyne-1969-progress-report-use-english-information/"
---
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# A Progress Report on the Use of English in Information Retrieval

**Authors:** J. A. Moyne · **Year:** 1969 · **Venue:** [International Conference on Computational Linguistics COLING 1969: Preprint No. 40](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/) ([COLING 1969](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/coling/1969/)) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/C69-4001/) · [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/C69-4001.pdf) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2018635846)

**Citations:** 5 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14)

## Summary
Moyne reports on Proto-RELADES, an IBM Boston Programming Center system that has run since June 1967. Users type English queries and commands to ask about the holdings of the Center's library. The original recognition grammar ran in two stages. Phrase structure rules first built a surface structure, and a separate transformational component then mapped it to deep structure. The revised experimental grammar merges both stages into one rule set. Each rule checks the symbols to the left and right of a moving pointer, tests a condition, can perform a local transformation and build a node, then advances the pointer and jumps to a labelled rule. A "reductions analysis" (RA) recognizer applies these rules and produces a canonical deep structure without building any surface structure, which the author counts as a real gain in speed. The second theme is ambiguity. Rather than listing every parse, the system narrows readings using four sources in a fixed order: the lexicon, the data base, the system's own capabilities, and finally the human user. The author argues that a restricted domain makes this practical, and that asking the user is seldom needed.

## Key points
- Proto-RELADES was designed in 1966–67 and ran on IBM System/360 Models 40 and 50. It answers English queries about library contents.
- The grammar builds on earlier generative recognition work: Petrick (1965), the Mitre (1964) grammar and the IBM Core Grammar (Rosenbaum and Lochak 1966). Woods (1967) is cited as taking a similar domain-restricted approach.
- The RA recognizer extends Cheatham (1968). Culicover (1969) and Lewis (1969) built a grammar in this format that uses only local transformations.
- Ambiguity resolution draws on four sources: (i) the lexicon, (ii) the data base, (iii) the system, and (iv) the human user. The first three are automatic and fast, while the fourth is a costly last resort.
- The paper's examples are PP attachment cases: "John wrote the book on the shelf", "books on paintings by Smith" and "documents on computers".

## Interesting ideas
- Order the disambiguators from cheapest to most expensive, so that lexical features, domain data and capability checks each prune readings before anyone asks the user. This keeps interaction rare while still offering a principled fallback.
- Resolve an attachment by looking up the entity in the data. If Smith is listed only as a painter, "by Smith" attaches to paintings, and if Smith is both author and painter, the system asks.
- Reject any interpretation the answering machinery could never act on, such as searching the physical top of a computer for documents. The set of available operations then serves as a semantic constraint.
- Express grammar rules as readable units: a label, left and right context around a pointer, a condition, an action, and a jump target, with a fall-through to the next rule. This gives context-sensitive, local rewrites that are easy to trace step by step.
- Combine a general lexicon with small domain "micro-glossaries" of field-specific jargon. This avoids loading the core dictionary with countless features.

## For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

- **I1** (frames): When building frames, prag could run attachment and role choices through a fixed chain of filters, logging which filter removed each reading so the decision stays explainable.
- **I2** (world): The world of the text and the Wikidata/WordNet layer could vote on PP attachment by checking which head noun the dependent entity actually relates to.
- **I3** (answer): Readers could discard parses whose resulting question has no matching answer operation, such as an unsupported relation, before committing to an answer.
- **I4** (learn): Self-induced repair rules could use this labelled, conditioned format, so each correction to a parse is auditable and the order in which rules fire is explicit.
- **I5** (tokens): crate en could load optional domain overlays, for school subjects or fables for example, that add senses and features only when that domain is active.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

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- [IBM](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/companies/ibm/) — Company, Armonk, United States · 154 works · 72,606 citations
- [Harvard University](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/harvard-university/) — University, Cambridge, United States · 126 works · 45,130 citations

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## Cite

Cite as: J. A. Moyne. 1969. A Progress Report on the Use of English in Information Retrieval. International Conference on Computational Linguistics COLING 1969: Preprint No. 40.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@inproceedings{moyne1969progress,
  title = {{A Progress Report on the Use of English in Information Retrieval}},
  author = {J. A. Moyne},
  booktitle = {International Conference on Computational Linguistics COLING 1969: Preprint No. 40},
  year = {1969},
  doi = {10.3115/990403.990443},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3115/990403.990443}
}
```

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## References

11 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Cneatham, T. E., Jr. (1968) "On the Generation and Implementation of Reductions Analysis Programs for Context Free Grammars," Computer Associates, C[ -6902-2911, Feb. 29, 1968. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Cneatham%2C+T%2E+E%2E%2C+Jr%2E+%281968%29+%22On+the+Generation+and+Implementation+of+Reductions+Analysis+Programs+for+Context+Free+Grammars%2C%22+Computer+Associates%2C+C%5B+%2D6902%2D2911%2C+Feb%2E+29%2C+1968%2E)
2. Cnomsky, Noam (1965) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Cnomsky%2C+Noam+%281965%29+Aspects+of+the+Theory+of+Syntax%2C+M%2EI%2ET%2E+Press%2C+Cambridge%2C+Mass%2E)
3. Culicover, Peter (1969) "A Discussion of the CUE Grammar" (forthcoming) [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Culicover%2C+Peter+%281969%29+%22A+Discussion+of+the+CUE+Grammar%22+%28forthcoming%29)
4. Kuno, Susumu (1967) "Computer Analysis of English," Mathematical Aspects of Computer Science, American Mathematical Society, Vol. 19. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kuno%2C+Susumu+%281967%29+%22Computer+Analysis+of+English%2C%22+Mathematical+Aspects+of+Computer+Science%2C+American+Mathematical+Society%2C+Vol%2E+19%2E)
5. Lewis, Clayton (1969) "The RA-DRYAD System for Automated Recognition Grammars" (forthcoming) [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Lewis%2C+Clayton+%281969%29+%22The+RA%2DDRYAD+System+for+Automated+Recognition+Grammars%22+%28forthcoming%29)
6. Mitre (1964) English Preprocessor Manual, The Mitre Corporation Bedford, Mass. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Mitre+%281964%29+English+Preprocessor+Manual%2C+The+Mitre+Corporation+Bedford%2C+Mass%2E)
7. Moyne, J. A. (1967a) "Toward the Understanding of Natural Languages by Machines," Proceedings of the X International Congress of Linguists, Bucharest. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Moyne%2C+J%2E+A%2E+%281967a%29+%22Toward+the+Understanding+of+Natural+Languages+by+Machines%2C%22+Proceedings+of+the+X+International+Congress+of+Linguists%2C+Bucharest%2E)
8. Moyne, J. A. (1967b) Proto-RELADES: A Restrictive Natural Language System, IBM Corp., BPC Technical Report No. 3, Oct. 3, ]967, Cambridge, Mass. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Moyne%2C+J%2E+A%2E+%281967b%29+Proto%2DRELADES%3A+A+Restrictive+Natural+Language+System%2C+IBM+Corp%2E%2C+BPC+Technical+Report+No%2E+3%2C+Oct%2E+3%2C+%5D967%2C+Cambridge%2C+Mass%2E)
9. Petrick, Stanley Roy (1965) A Recognition Procedure for Transformational Grammars, M.I.T. doctoral thesis, ,Cambridge, Mass. -10-Rosenbaum, P. and D. Lochak (1966) The IBM Core Grammar of En91ish, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM Corporation, Yorktown Heights, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Petrick%2C+Stanley+Roy+%281965%29+A+Recognition+Procedure+for+Transformational+Grammars%2C+M%2EI%2ET%2E+doctoral+thesis%2C+%2CCambridge%2C+Mass%2E+%2D10%2DRosenbaum%2C+P%2E+and+D%2E+Lochak+%281966%29+The+IBM+Core+Grammar+of+En91ish%2C+Tho)
10. Rosenbaum, Peter S. (1968) Engiish Grammar I I , IBM Research Report R C 2070, Yorktown Heights, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Rosenbaum%2C+Peter+S%2E+%281968%29+Engiish+Grammar+I+I+%2C+IBM+Research+Report+R+C+2070%2C+Yorktown+Heights%2C+New+York%2E)
11. Woods, William A. (1967) Semantics for a question-Answering System Report No. NSF-19, The Computation Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 3. -II- [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Woods%2C+William+A%2E+%281967%29+Semantics+for+a+question%2DAnswering+System+Report+No%2E+NSF%2D19%2C+The+Computation+Laboratory%2C+Harvard+University%2C+Cambridge%2C+Mass%2E+3%2E+%2DII%2D)

*Updated 2 November 2026*