Information Retrieval and Web Search (IE663 + IE691)

General description

Level: Master (Diploma)

Prerequisites:

Fundamental notions of linear algebra, probability theory, as well as algorithms and data structures
Programming skills (a higher-level pgoramming languages like Java, Python, C#, or C++ recommended) for the IR Project (IE 691)

Description:

Given the vastness and richness of the Web, users need high-performing, scalable and efficient methods to access its wealth of information and satisfy their information needs. As such, being able to search and effectively retrieve relevant pieces of information from large text collections is a crucial task for the majority (if practically not all) of Web applications. In this course we will explore a variety of basic and advanced techniques for text-based information retrieval and Web search. Coursework will include exercises, and a final exam (IE 663). Homework assignments are meant to introduce the students to the problems that will be covered in the final exam.

For the IR project course, IE 691, students are expected to successfully complete a team project in teams of 4–5 people. The projects will focus on a variety of IR problems covered in class. Project deliverables include both software (i.e., code and documentation) and a short report explaining the work performed and its evaluation.

Organization

Teaching staff:

Lectures:

On Wednesdays at 12.00–13:30 in A5 Room C013

Exercises:

On Tuesdays at 12.00–13:30 in A5 Room C012 (not every week, we'll announce when tutorials take place via ILIAS)

Course materials:

Include lecture slides and exercise/homework assignment sheets.
All materials will be posted in the ILIAS page of the course

Textbooks

C. D. Manning, P. Raghavan and H. Schütze, Introduction to Information Retrieval, Cambridge University Press, 2008 (available at http ://nlp .stanford .edu /IR -book).

B. Croft, D. Metzler, T. Strohman, Search Engines: Information Retrieval in Practice, Addison-Wesley, 2009 (available at http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/irbook/).

R. Baeza-Yates, B. Ribeiro-Neto, Modern Information Retrieval, Addison-Wesley, 2011 (2nd Edition).