588: Online Searching, 3 Credits

Winter 2004/05 8:00 – 5:00, Jan 3-7

Instructor: Scott Nicholson,Ph.D., M.L.I.S. (http://www.scottnicholson.com)
Center for Science and Technology 4-127, School of Information Studies,
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-4100
Email: srnichol@syr.edu

Official Description:
Overview of multiple types of digital searching tools such as commercial bibliographic databases, Web search tools, and other specialty search tools. Focus on selection, understanding and use of search tools, with components about search engine optimization, advertising in search tools, and evaluation of Web information.

Purpose:
The goal of this class is to teach students about the current environment of digital information retrieval services. By the end of the class, the students should know the basics of how these how these search tools work from both a theoretical and applied viewpoint, what kind of specialty tools exist to locate hard-to-find resources, how to choose the most appropriate tools for the searching need, how to use these tools, how to examine the results and how to compare performance between tools.

What is a Commercial Bibliographic Database?
These databases are collections of pointers to or the full text of bibliographic works. Students are expected to have some familiarity with these databases, such as Library Literature or ERIC. In this course, we will focus on a large-scale subscription database named DIALOG. These tools are more complex, but if harnessed, can allow a searcher rapid access to a large collection of high-quality materials.

What is a Web Search Tool?
Web search tools, commonly known as “search engines,” are defined as a large collection of pointers to Web pages. This set of pages can be explored with a search interface or a directory. We will only focus on those tools that are free to access through the Web.

What are Specialty Search Tools?
These tools are some of the more focused tools available online. It is estimated that 80% of the Internet is not available through the general Web search tools. The key to finding resources in this “invisible Web” are specialty search tools, and while these can be difficult to find, unlock information available nowhere else.

Objectives: By the end of the class, students should be able to:
1. Understand the different technologies that go into the search tools, both from a theoretical and an applied perspective
2. Use advanced features of commercial bibliographic databases
2. Identify invisible Web resources and know the tools to seek them out
3. Choose between the different types of search tools and classify new tools into these existing types.
4. Develop and execute a searching strategy
5. Recognize advertising and forms of deception on the Web
6. Compare the quality of results between different tools

Textbooks:

Note – Students wanting to have an easier time during the class should read these texts before class starts, as the majority of the texts will be assigned during class.

(Read Chapters 1,2, 3, 4,5,6,10,14) Internet Power Searching: The Advanced Manual, Second Edition (2002) by Phil Bradley. You can learn about the book at http://istweb.syr.edu/design/academic/courses/administrative/integrity.html. Do not buy the first edition and think that will be fine; you need the second edition. ISBN 1-55570-447-6

(Read Chapters 2,3,4,6,8,10,11) Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet Edited by Anne Mintz, published by CyberAge books. ISBN 0910965609

(optional text purchase) Readings from The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See, by Chris Sherman and Gary Price. ISBN 091096551X {I will provide readings from this work as needed, but if this is a topic you are very interested in, you might want to pick up the book.}

(will be provided for you) Dialog Lab Workbook.

Other materials will be assigned and will be handed out in class or made available through electronic means, and these will be discussed in class.

Student Responsibilities:

You are expected to participate fully in all activities and discussions during the class duration, as well turning in assignments by the designated time. Just as in the real world, late assignments will be penalized. If you do not understand assignments, readings, etc. it is your responsibility to inform the instructor well before the due date. If you are having difficulty, please contact me early so that we can resolve problems before your final grade is unchangeable. You must complete all assignments to pass the course.

A grade of Incomplete will only be given in the most extreme emergency cases. If, for some reason, you feel that it is imperative that you receive an incomplete, you must bring your concerns to my attention as soon as the emergency situation arises.

Due dates are not negotiable. Because of this, procrastination should be avoided. If you employ procrastination as a time management tool, this can limit your time in dealing with unexpected problems. The instructor has the right to refuse to accept late assignments or add significant grade penalties. In addition, as the instructor schedules grading time for assignments, students turning in late assignments may receive their assessment much later than the rest of the class.

Statement of Academic Integrity:
The academic community requires the highest standards of professional ethics and personal integrity from all members of the community. Violations of these standards are violations of a mutual obligation characterized by trust, honesty, and personal honor. As a community, we commit ourselves to standards of academic conduct, impose sanctions against those who violate these standards, and keep appropriate records of violations.

Technology Requirements:
You are expected to have had some experience with Web search tools and commercial databases available through your library before class. If you haven’t worked with many commercial databases, I encourage you to play with ERIC, Library Literature, and LISA (all available through http://www.library.arizona.edu/indexes/AllTitles.shtm)

WebCT
This course will be using WebCT for support during and after the course, and students are expected to log onto it regularly. Students should plan on logging on at least once per evening for updates, but also may be using it for in-class projects during the course.

ASSIGNMENTS (tentative – may change with proper notice)

Searching Case Study Report: 50% (First draft due Wednesday at start of class, Final due Friday at start of class.)

During the first day of class, student groups will be assigned a case study. Throughout the class, you will be given opportunities to search on this case study after we learn each type of tool. You will create a report (8-10 pages) documenting the search process for each of the tools as the final project for the course. The report should conclude with a discussion contrasting the different types of searching tools and how useful they were in this search.

The report should talk about each of the types of tools and talk about the successful strategies in each, as well as a brief analysis of the relevance of the results to the case. Don’t focus on the results – a few citations from each tool and a discussion of the overall precision of the result set is fine.

Search Tool Evaluation: 40% - You will be assigned a search tool, and will be evaluating it using information from the search tool’s documentation and other writings. You will be doing a 15-minute presentation on the search tool on the morning of the last day of class, and will create a 2 page (strict) searching aid handout about the tool targeted toward end users. Your handout should be independent of your talk. The handout should stand on its own, with the goal of providing the class with a take-away aid to search tools.

The presentation should focus more on the behind-the-scenes working of the tool. In order to understand how a tool works, you must unlock the information buried within the documentation of the search tool, seek out how the tool is funding, and understand the advertising attached to a tool.

In your 15-minute (strict) talk, you should address points like:
What is the history of the tool? Who are the present owners?
What kind of pages go into the database?
What can you learn about the tool’s Matching/Ranking algorithm?
How does the tool select and use advertising?
How does it compare to other search tools?
When would this tool be the best tool to use?

4. Participation: 10%

Grading Information

Letter Grade equivalents: Grades may be assigned as letters or numbers. The conversion from letter grade to number grade is as follows:

A+: 98             B+: 88              C+: 78             D: 65                F: 55
A: 95                B: 85                C: 75
A-: 92              B-: 82              C-: 72

For final grades, the conversion from final numerical average to letter grade is as follows:

A: 93+ B+: 86.6-89.8 C+: 76.6-79.8 D: 59.9-69.8
A-: 89.9-92.9 B: 83-86.5 C: 73-76.5 F: below 59.9

Schedule of Topics -
This schedule is tentative and will change as needed to meet the needs of the instructors and the class. There will be readings assigned from the texts during the class, however, as students will have assignments to work on in the evening, it is suggested they read the texts before class begins.

Readings due Before Class
Since grades are due shortly after class, you will be working on assignments in the evenings. So that you will hve the time for this, you’ll want to work on readings before class begins:

Chapters 1,2, 3, 4,5,6,10,14 in Internet Power Searching: The Advanced Manual, Second Edition
Chapters 2,3,4,6,8,10,11 in Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet

Bell, S. (2004) The Infodiet..
Drabenstott, K. (2004). Why I Still Teach Online Searching
Fielden, N. (2004). Is Google God, and Is That Good
Gelernter, J. (2003). At the Limits of Google
Meadow, C. & Cochrane, P. (1981). Basics of Online Searching
Tenopir, C. (1999). Human or Automated, Indexing is Important
Tenopir, C. (2001). Why I Still Teach DIALOG

Many of these readings (and others) will be assigned during the week. However, as you will also have writing assignments due Friday, you might find it overwhelming to keep up with both. Please at least review these readings before the first day of class.

Jan. 3

AM - Introduction to the class, Overview of tool types, Basics of search engines

PM - Theories of Searching and Searching Strategies, Introduction to DIALOG

Jan 4.

AM - Using a free-text search tool (Natural Language, Boolean, Limits), Using other Search Interfaces (Directories, Hierarchical Lists, Question-based, Meta-search tools)

PM – More DIALOG & Other commercial Search Databases

Jan 5. – First draft of Case Study due

AM - Subject-Specific search tools, Trustworthiness of Web search tools

PM – More DIALOG (Citation Searching), Search Engine Optimization

Jan 6.

AM - Judging quality of search results – What is Relevance, Theories and Methods

PM - Invisible Web Tools

Jan 7. All work due.

AM – Presentations of search tools by students

PM – Wrap-up, future of searching