IS530: Information Access and Retrieval Fall 2001, Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:10-12:25 Instructor: Dr. Carol Tenopir [email protected] Temple Court 302 Fall Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10-11 and 2-3:30; Wednesdays 10-12; 2-3; or by appointment 974-7911 Catalog Description: Media for information storage, logical and physical information structures, query logic and languages, search strategies and heuristics, user interfaces, evaluation of retrieval system performance. Search techniques for various types of databases including multi-media, full-text, numeric, and bibliographic. Course Goals/Objectives: This course is part of the core curriculum, determined by the faculty to contain basic knowledge required by any information professional. It is an overview course, intended to prepare you for more specialized electives such as 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, and 566. At the end of this course, students will be able to: 1. understand the range of media options and types of information sources and services; 2. analyze the structure and access methods of information sources and services; 3. evaluate and compare information sources of all types and in all media; 4. develop search strategies to access and retrieve information; 5. evaluate and compare methods for accessing and retrieving information; 6. be sensitive to the needs of information seekers in a variety of settings. 1Methodology: Class sessions will be a combination of lecture, individual participation, and small group work. There will be some guest speakers or tours. Much of the benefit from this class will come from the work you put into it outside of class hours. Most weeks there will be hands-on assignments and several larger assignments. Expect to spend many hours in both physical and virtual libraries. Course Assignments: (Further details will be provided in class.) 1. LIBRARY AND RESOURCES EVALUATION (10%): The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the UTK physical library, UTK virtual library, and some of the resources unique to library and information sciences. (See attached explanation.) DUE: Tuesday, September 4 2. ACCESS METHODS FOR PRINT (15%): Select one printed reference source found in the library from each of the following types: Directories, Almanacs, Yearbooks/Handbooks, Biographical sources, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Geographical sources, Bibliographies, Indexes/Abstracts, Government Documents/Statistical sources. Examine them carefully with an emphasis on how a user can access the information within. Record the following information for each source examined: 1. Bibliographic information for the work you are examining (include as appropriate, title, author(s), edition/series/volumes, place of publication, publisher, date(s)), 2. Type of source as defined in class (encyclopedia, almanac, etc.), 3. Subject(s) covered, 4. A list of all access methods provided (for example, table of contents, subject index, author index, arrangement, headings, etc.) Turn in: 1) a short factual section that lists the information above for each source; 2) a 700-1000 word (approximately) essay that discusses how access methods are provided in printed reference books. Use your sources as examples, but consider what these examples tell you in a larger sense. Consider the following in your discussion: does access differ depending on the type of source? What access means are similar in many print sources? What access means differ? What is a "user interface" in a printed reference source? Be prepared to discuss in class how printed reference sources of each type provide access. NOTE: You may be examining some of these sources again for your term project, using different (but overlapping) criteria. Keep your notes! DUE: Tuesday, September 18 23. ACCESS METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC (15%): Select 2 different CD-ROM or online systems to compare. Remember you are selecting 2 systems, that is different search systems, not just different databases. For example, on CD-ROM you could compare SilverPlatterWindows and WILSONDISC. Online you could compare SilverPlatter Web (WebSPIRS), OCLC FirstSearch, or ProQuest Direct. To examine the 2 systems you will need to select at least one database for each. For example, you could look at PsycLIT on SilverPlatter and Applied Science and Technology on WILSONDISC. (Some systems such as LexisNexis Universe place full text resources in groupings that they do not call "databases". Consider a grouping the same as a database.) Or, if available, you could examine the same database on different systems—for example, Education Index on SilverPlatter and on WILSONDISC. Analyze and compare their access methods and user interface according to the criteria discussed in class. Turn in: 1) A factual summary for each system, including: a) the name of the system (e.g., SilverPlatter Web); b) the system vendor (e.g., SilverPlatter); c) the database or databases (or groupings) you examined for this system (e.g., Education Index and PsycLIT ); d) the producer of each database (e.g., H.W. Wilson Company and American Psychological Association); and, e) a point-by-point feature evaluation using a checklist patterned after those in your readings. 2) A 700-1000 word essay that considers how the systems compare and how they demonstrate ways electronic systems in general provide access to information. Weave these criteria (and others you feel are important) into a checklist of features for paper #2—access methods for electronic. Each system should be evaluated with the same criteria. You may choose to assign numerical rankings, qualitative rankings (good, poor, etc.), or just use comments. In any case you will interpret them overall in the paper. 1. Overall Ease of Use: Include here features such as: a. Help screens (context-sensitive? Understandable? Structured? Searchable?) b. Tutorials (available? Standalone or integrated? Right length? Well done?) c. Interface (or make this a separate category) (type?, appropriate level for audience?, multiple?, use of colors and spacing?, clear?, consistent?) 2. Searching (search engine) Include here features such as: a. browsing (index browsing, thesaurus browsing, document browsing, other browsing?) b. term selection (how are terms selected? Multiple indexes?) c. truncation d. Boolean e. Field searching f. Proximity operators 3g. Positional operators h. Arithmetic operators i. Search