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Subsections
Although several people have contributed
chapters for this book, it is really a textbook.
The contents and the structure of the book have been carefully designed by the
two main authors who also authored or coauthored nine of the 15 chapters in
the book. Further, all the contributed chapters have been judiciously edited
and integrated into a unifying framework that provides
uniformity in structure and style,
a common glossary, a common bibliography, and
appropriate cross-references. At the end of each chapter,
a discussion on research issues, trends, and selected bibliography
is included. This discussion should be useful for graduate students as well
as for researchers. Furthermore, the book is complemented
by a Web page with additional information and resources.
This textbook can be used in many different areas
including computer science (CS), information systems, and library science.
The following list gives suggested contents for different courses
at the undergraduate and graduate level, based on syllabuses of many
universities around the world:
-
Information Retrieval (Computer Science, undergraduate): this is
the standard course for many CS programs. The minimum content should
include Chapters 1 to 8 and
Chapter 10, that is, most of the part on
Text IR complemented with the chapter on
user interfaces. Some specific topics of those
chapters, such as more advanced models for IR and sophisticated
algorithms for indexing and searching, can be omitted
to fit a one term course. The chapters on Applications of IR can be mentioned
briefly at the end.
-
Advanced Information Retrieval (Computer Science, graduate):
similar to the previous course but with more detailed coverage of the
various chapters particularly modeling and searching (assuming the
previous course as a requirement). In addition, Chapter 9
and Chapters 13 to 15
should be covered completely. Emphasis on research problems
and new results is a must.
-
Information Retrieval (Information Systems, undergraduate):
this
course is similar to the CS course, but with a different emphasis.
It should include Chapters 1 to 7
and Chapter 10. Some notions from Chapter 8
are useful but not crucial. At the end, the system-oriented
parts of the chapters on Applications of IR, in particular those
on Bibliographic Systems and
Digital Libraries, must be covered (this material can be complemented
with topics from [lesk97]).
-
Information Retrieval (Library Science, undergraduate):
similar to the previous course, but removing the more technical and
advanced
material of Chapters 2, 5, and
7. Also, greater emphasis should be
put on the chapters on Bibliographic Systems and Digital Libraries.
The course should be complemented with a thorough discussion of
the user-centered view of the IR problem (for example, using the book
by Allen [alle]).
-
Multimedia Retrieval (Computer Science, undergraduate or graduate):
this course should include Chapters 1 to 3,
6, and 11 to 15.
The emphasis could be on multimedia itself or on the integration of
classical IR with multimedia. The course can be complemented with one of the
many books on this topic, which are usually more broad and technical.
-
Topics in IR (Computer Science, graduate): many chapters of the
book can be used for this course. It can emphasizemodeling and evaluation
or user interfaces and visualization. It can also be focused on algorithms and
data structures (in that case, [fby92] and [WMB94] are good
complements). A multimedia focus is also possible, starting with
Chapters 11 and 12
and using more specific books later on.
-
Topics in IR (Information Systems or Library Science, graduate)
similar to the above but with emphasis on non-technical parts. For
example, the course could cover
modeling and evaluation, query languages, user interfaces, and
visualization. The chapters on applications can also be considered.
-
Web Retrieval and Information Access (generic,
undergraduate or graduate): this course should emphasize hypertext, concepts
coming from networks and distributed systems and multimedia. The kernel
should be the basic models of Chapter 2 followed by Chapters
3, 4, and 6.
Also, Chapters 11 and 13 to
15 should be discussed.
-
Digital Libraries (generic, undergraduate or graduate): This course
could start with part of Chapters 2 to 4
and 6, followed by Chapters 10,
and 15.
The kernel of the course could be based on the book by Lesk [lesk97].
More bibliography useful for many of the courses above is discussed in the last
section of this chapter.
As IR is a very dynamic area nowadays, a book by itself is not enough.
For that reason (and many others),
the book has a Web home page located and mirrored in the following places (mirrors in USA and Europe are also
planned):
-
Brazil: http://www.dcc.ufmg.br/irbook
-
Chile: http://sunsite.dcc.uchile.cl/irbook
Comments, suggestions, contributions, or mistakes found are welcome through
email to the contact authors given on the Web page.
The Web page contains the Table of Contents, Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction,
Glossary, and other appendices to the book. It also includes exercises and teaching materials
that will be increasing in volume and changing with time.
In addition, a reference collection (containing 1239 documents on
Cystic Fibrosis and 100 information requests with extensive relevance
evaluation [swwt91])
is available for experimental purposes.
Furthermore,
the page includes useful pointers to IR syllabuses in different
universities, IR research groups, IR publications, and
other resources related to IR and this book. Finally, any new important
results
or additions to the book as well as an errata will be made publicly
available there.
Next: 7. Bibliographic Discussion
Up: 1. Introduction
Previous: 5. Organization of the
Modern Information Retrieval © Addison-Wesley-Longman Publishing co.
1999 Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Berthier Ribeiro-Neto