Information Retrieval

MW 5:30-6:45pm
Room to be announced
Dr. Charles Nicholas
nicholas@umbc.edu

Dr. Ian Soboroff taught this course a few years back, and I like his introduction:

This course is an introduction to the theory and implementation of software systems designed to search through large collections of text. Ever wonder how World-Wide Web search engines work? Ever wondered why they don't? You'll learn about it here. Information retrieval (IR) is one of the oldest branches of computer science, and has influenced nearly every aspect of computer usage: "search and replace" in a word processor, querying a card catalog, grep'ing through your source code, filtering the spam out of your email, searching the Web.

This course will have two main thrusts. The first is to cover the fundamentals of IR: retrieval models, search algorithms, and IR evaluation. The second is to give a taste of the implementation issues by having you write (a good chunk of) your own text search engine and test it out on a sample text collection. This will be a semester-long project, details TBA.

You will need to have taken the equivalent of CMSC 341 (Data Structures), and an algorithms course (441 or 641) is recommended. Linear algebra (MATH 221) and Statistics (STAT 355) are recommended but not required; they give background which will be helpful in understanding many IR concepts.

Text
The text will be Grossman and Frieder, available at the UMBC bookstore (at least it's been ordered) as well as Amazon. We will follow this book fairly closely. Details about which chapters will be covered, and when, will follow. Other readings will be assigned, and made available.

Grading
There will be a multi-phase programming project, details to be announced, worth about 50% of the grade. Homeworks will be another 25%. There will also be a writing project, worth 25%. Presentations on the programming project will take the place of the final exam.

Academic Integrity
"By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in UMBC's scholarly community in which everyone's academic work and behavior are held to the highest standards of honesty. Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong. Academic misconduct could result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal. To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the UMBC Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook, or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory [or for graduate courses, the Graduate School website]."