CE706-AU Information Retrieval Overview

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Questions and Answers

What materials are required for each class session?

A calculator and an exercise book

A folder and colored pens

A laptop and a textbook

A black biro and A4 paper (correct)

When is the progress test scheduled to take place?

In the first week of the summer term

In the last week of the term

In the second week of the term

During the lab session in Week 10 (correct)

What should students do with their answers from lab exercises?

Share them with classmates for collaborative study

Keep them safely for project and exam revision (correct)

Submit them online immediately after the lab

Erase them after review

What is the format of the progress test?

Closed Book with no notes or internet allowed Signup and view all the answers

How should students prepare for the exam?

Focus mainly on assignments and lab tasks Signup and view all the answers

What is the correct process for submitting the assignment?

Submit through FASER at least half an hour before the deadline Signup and view all the answers

What is the duration of the exam?

120 minutes Signup and view all the answers

Where can students find the specifications for their assignment?

On the Moodle page during the appropriate week Signup and view all the answers

What percentage of the total module mark is allocated to the exam?

60% Signup and view all the answers

How does the Progress Test contribute to the overall coursework assessment?

10% of the total marks is from the Progress Test Signup and view all the answers

What must students complete for their Dissertation Project?

A project and a dissertation Signup and view all the answers

Which university did the lecturer complete their Ph.D.?

University of Essex Signup and view all the answers

In the assessment breakdown, how much is the Assignment worth in terms of the whole module mark?

30% Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the lecturer's specific research interests?

Computer Musicology Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following assessments is NOT part of the coursework weight?

Final Exam Signup and view all the answers

What is necessary for students to begin their Dissertation Project?

A project and a supervisor Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes determinism from probabilistic reasoning?

Determinism results from previously existing causes. Signup and view all the answers

In information retrieval (IR), what is the role of keywords?

They indicate uncertainty about document relevance. Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of databases compared to information retrieval?

DBs convert data into structured forms. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes NoSQL databases?

They use structured documents and queries. Signup and view all the answers

What is inverted indexing primarily used for in search engines?

To organize terms and their locations in documents. Signup and view all the answers

How do databases generally change their overall framework compared to information retrieval systems?

DBs cannot change their overall framework. Signup and view all the answers

How does term weighting influence information retrieval?

It assigns importance to keywords used in searches. Signup and view all the answers

What limitation do traditional databases have compared to newer information retrieval systems?

They cannot change query frameworks. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of Information Retrieval?

Structure, analysis, organization, storage, and retrieval of information Signup and view all the answers

What development in Information Retrieval significantly advanced its capacity in the 1970s?

Inverted Indexing Signup and view all the answers

In the context of Information Retrieval, how is a user's query processed?

It returns an ordered list of matching files Signup and view all the answers

In what way does Information Retrieval differ from Database Queries?

Information Retrieval often deals with incomplete queries Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes inductive reasoning?

Evidence is supplied but does not guarantee certainty Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following fields is closely related to Information Retrieval?

Information Extraction Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes the error responses in Database Queries compared to Information Retrieval?

Database Queries are less sensitive to errors Signup and view all the answers

How has the perception of Information Retrieval evolved from the 1950s to the 2020s?

It is now universally used Signup and view all the answers

What does a high frequency of a term across the entire document collection imply about its usefulness for distinguishing between documents?

The term becomes less useful for distinguishing between documents. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main purpose of the TF*IDF formula in information retrieval?

To enhance the search capabilities by weighting terms appropriately. Signup and view all the answers

Why do we take the reciprocal of document frequency (IDF) in the TF*IDF calculation?

To penalize common terms that appear in many documents. Signup and view all the answers

What is one key feature of inverted indexing in information retrieval?

It enables fast searching on large collections of documents. Signup and view all the answers

What is the relationship between term frequency (TF) and document frequency (DF) in the context of information retrieval?

High TF with low DF provides a stronger indication of a term's relevance. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Module Overview

This module is called CE706-AU Information Retrieval, taught by Richard Sutcliffe.
It consists of lectures, labs, and classes.
There is also a progress test and an assignment.
The final assessment is an exam taken during the Summer Term.
Assessments are weighted: 30% project, 10% progress test, and 60% exam.
The progress test is taken under exam conditions and includes similar questions to the class exercises.
The assignment is a practical project done in labs and submitted through FASER.
The exam is 120 minutes long and covers material from lectures, labs, and classes.

Lecturer Information

Richard Sutcliffe has a Ph.D. from the University of Essex.
He has lectured at several universities, including Exeter, Limerick, and Essex.
He has participated in several Question Answering projects like TREC, CLEF, and NTCIR.
He is interested in Natural Language Processing, IR, and Computer Musicology.
His research interests include Sentiment Analysis, Personality, Machine Learning, and Neural Networks.

Information Retrieval: Definition and Key Concepts

Information Retrieval (IR) is the field of structuring, analyzing, organizing, storing, and retrieving information.
A search engine responds to a text-string query by producing an ordered list of matching files.
The concept of Inverted Indexing, a vital component of IR, was invented by Gerry Salton in the 1970s.
This allowed for efficient searching of large collections.
Today, IR is used universally.
Two key principles for Search Engines are: Inverted Indexing and Term Weighting.
Inverted Indexing is a method that maps terms to documents containing those terms.
Term weighting is a technique used to determine the importance of terms in a document for retrieval.
TD*IDF is a dominant paradigm for term weighting.

Question Answering is a field that aims to provide precise answers to natural language questions.
Information Extraction focuses on extracting key information from text, such as entities, relationships, and facts.
Database queries and IR are different, but complementary, approaches to retrieving information.

DB vs. IR

Database Retrieval focuses on exact matches, while IR focuses on partial or best matches.
Database Retrieval relies on Deduction, while IR relies on Induction.
Database Retrieval uses deterministic models, while IR uses probabilistic models.
Database Retrieval often uses artificial query languages, while IR uses natural language.
Database queries have to be complete, while IR queries can be incomplete.

Hybrid Approaches: NoSQL Databases

NoSQL databases combine elements of both database and search engine technologies.
MongoDB is an example of a NoSQL database that supports structured data, structured queries, and large amounts of data.
NoSQL databases do not offer the same normalization guarantees as SQL databases.

Assignment Topics and Considerations

Students are expected to implement and evaluate a search engine as part of their assignment.
Each student will have a different topic for their assignment.
Topics must be approved by the lecturer.
The assignment focuses on implementing and evaluating search engine technologies.

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Description

This module, CE706-AU Information Retrieval, focuses on essential aspects of information retrieval, including lectures, labs, and assessments. Students will engage in a project, progress test, and final exam to evaluate their understanding of the course material. Dr. Richard Sutcliffe, an expert in Natural Language Processing, leads this course.