DS31620 - INFORMATION RETRIEVAL

Module Identifier

DS31620

Module Title

INFORMATION RETRIEVAL

Academic Year

2003/2004

Co-ordinator

Mr Allen E Foster

Semester

Available all semesters

Course delivery

Lecture

2 Hours One introductory lecture/seminar of 2 hours provided at study school, the remainder to be taught entirely through distance learning materials

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	Essay of 2,500 words - weighted 50%.
Semester Assessment	Report of 2,500 words - weighted 50%.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:

Evaluate online information retrieval systems and the retrieval mechanisms operating within them

Describe and evaluate different methods of indexing from traditional through to state of the art

Explain the methods, and issues surrounding, the evaluation of performance of information retrieval systems

Assess the implications of different indexing and retrieval methods for users, systems design and management

Evaluate opportunities, problems and issues in the context of non-traditional multimedia information retrieval

Evaluate current information retrieval research and future directions for information retrieval systems

Brief description

Effective Information Retrieval is at the heart of the ?information society?. Beginning with the student?s experience of Internet search engines and library OPACs the course progresses through the surface level user experience through successive layers into the underlying tools and principles of IR systems. Students will develop a working knowledge of the principles of information retrieval in the information age and generate a view of how information retrieval will develop in the future.

Content

The course will address a range of content linked to the learning outcomes. Primarily content will revolve around

Evaluation of online information retrieval systems and the retrieval mechanisms operating within them
Exploration and evaluate of different methods of indexing from traditional through to state of the art
The methods, and issues surrounding, the evaluation of performance of information retrieval systems
The implications of different indexing and retrieval methods for users, systems design and management
Evaluation of the opportunities, problems and issues in the context of non-traditional multimedia information retrieval
Evaluation of current information retrieval research and future directions for information retrieval systems.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Background
Burke, Mary A (1999) Organization of multimedia resources: principles and practice of information retrieval Aldershot: Gower
Foskett, A C (1996) The subject approach to information 5th. London: Library Association
Gredley, Ellen and Alan Hopkinson (1990) Exchanging bibliographic data: MARC and other international formats London: Library Association
Large, Andrew, Lucy A. Tedd, and R. J. Hartley (1999) Information seeking in the online age: principles and practice London: Bowker?Saur
Nielsen. Jakob (2000) Designing Web usability New York: New riders
Rowley, Jennifer and John Farrow (2000) Organizing knowledge: an introduction to managing access to information 3rd. Aldershot: Gower

Articles
Barr, C.L. and L Schamber (1998) Users' criteria for relevance evaluation: a cross-situational comparison nformation Processing and Management. 34(2/3), pp219-236
Bates, M.J (1989) The design of browsing and berry-picking techniques for the online search interface Online Review, 13(5), pp407-431
Buckland, B., Norgard, B.A., and Plaunt, C (1993) Filing, filtering, and the First Few Found Information Technology and Libraries vol. 12, no. 3, pp311-319
Croft, W.B (1995) What do people want from Information Retrieval D-Lib Magazine, November. Online. Available
Harter, S.P. and C. A. Hert, C.A (1997) Evaluation of information retrieval systems: approaches, issues and methods In Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (ARIST) 32, pp3-94

Web Page/Sites
National Library of Australia Meta matters Online. Available: http://www.nla.gov.au/meta/
Olson, Hope A Between control and chaos: an ethical perspective on authority control Online. Available: http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/authconf/holson.htm

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6