The main scope of this course is to enhance readers’ capabilities and skills in selecting the appropriate strategies for searching and retrieving information. Additionally, this course aims to familiarize its readers with the use of modern techniques and strategies for retrieving data and information from search engines, electronic resources, data banks, bibliographic databases, and generally all kinds of databases.
More specifically, it sheds light on the concept of Information Retrieval Systems (IRS), their basic components, and their utility. These include fundamental theoretical approaches to the scientific topic of Information Retrieval, such as Boolean Algebra and Venn Diagrams, as well as the theory behind the binary and vector information representation model adopted by an IRS.
Subsequently, the methods and metrics for evaluating IRSs are explained through practical examples, including the concepts of Precision, Recall, and their Harmonic Mean (F-Measure). At the same time, a set of search techniques and the related terminology are presented through multiple examples, along with the importance of the relevance feedback process of a query to IRSs.
In addition, examples are given regarding the utility and possibilities offered by modern search engine environments and how they rank their results. Complementarily, the practical use of search engines in bibliographic/library databases is presented.
Finally, this course provides students with integrated knowledge about the types of information resources, how to evaluate them, and fundamental copyright issues that arise when information is disseminated.