What is information retrieval?

Information retrieval (IR) is information-seeking behaviors which uses computer technology to access desired information from a database.

The term information retrieval is attributed to Calvin Mooers around 1950, and its used is associated with the explosion of scientific documentation produced during and following World War II.

Most typically, the term refers to the identification of documents from a collection on database of documents or of scientific information.

 Information may be retrieved directly through an interface or indirectly, through an intermediary (such as librarian). Retrieval is dependent upon searching within certain defined and indexed fields, such as title, author, subject etc.

Computer based information retrieval systems can largely overcome many of the limitations of manual systems. In most cases computer-based retrieval systems not only allow the user to combine several retrieval parameters, but they also provide relatively rapid results.
What is information retrieval?