Introduction
This assignment is designed to be a real-world searching exercise.
It is hoped that you do not currently know very much about the subject
at hand and that the search process will address your Anomalous State of
Knowledge.
In Week9 will be discussing the use of Meta-data to facilitate information
access on the World Wide Web. Your goal is to gain enough understanding of
the
topic that you can participate fully in our class discussions during the
Week9 lecture.
The Assignment
To complete this assignment you will:
- Select two search engines and one subject-oriented guide.
(Use these to find your information).
- Compare and contrast the two search engines.
- Compare and contrast the search approach with the subject-oriented approach.
- As one evaluative measure take precision measurements for the first twenty documents returned.
- Comment on recall by comparing the returned sets from each engine and the subject-oriented guide.
- Make sure to discuss WHY you believe the search engines and subject-oriented guide gave you the results that you observed. (Hint: Failure analysis).
- Make sure to present your conclusions concerning the best approach to tackling searches of this type.
- To your report append a 1-2 page annotated bibliography (webography?) that illustrates what you have learned about the subject and why the site made it into your list.
Page creator: J. Stephen Downie
Page created: 22 October 1997
Page updated: 23 October 1997