Software Engineering (faster route) BSc/MSci
Information Retrieval (H) COMPSCI4069
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Computing Science
- Credits: 10
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Semester 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
To present students with an in-depth examination of the theoretical and practical issues involved in providing tools to access large collections of documents, especially in the context of the World Wide Web.
To present students with the practical engineering issues raised by the design and implementation of an information retrieval system.
Timetable
3 hours per week.
Excluded Courses
Information Retrieval (M)
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
Examination 70%, coursework 30%. (25% Assessment, 5% in class quizzes)
Main Assessment In: April/May
Course Aims
To present students with an in-depth examination of the theoretical and practical issues involved in providing tools to access large collections of documents, especially in the context of the World Wide Web.
To present students with the practical engineering issues raised by the design and implementation of an information retrieval system.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of the course students will be able to:
1. Implement a standard information retrieval (IR) system;
2. Discuss the theoretical basis behind the standard models of IR (e.g. Boolean, Vector-space, and Probabilistic models);
3. Discuss how an IR system should be evaluated in terms of the system's performance and the user's satisfaction with the system;
4. Describe the techniques in organising information;
5. Describe the techniques involved in retrieving information from the World Wide Web;
6. Describe the practical engineering issues raised by the implementation of a search engine for the Web.