1. CS6501 Advanced Topics in Information Retrieval Course Policy
Hongning Wang

2. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Goal of this course
Discuss fundamental problems in information retrieval
Building blocks of search engine systems
Wide coverage of important IR techniques
Personalized recommendation
Online advertising
Get hands-on experience by developing practical systems/components
Prepare students for doing cutting-edge research in information retrieval and related fields
Open the door to the amazing job opportunities in IT industry
CS6501: Information Retrieval

3. Character of this course
Discussion oriented
This is how great ideas are created!
You are encouraged to express your thoughts, confusions, and suggestions
Focusing on why, rather than how
CS6501: Information Retrieval

4. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Prerequisites
Programming skills – Important!
Basic data structures: CS 2150 or equivalent
Java is required for machine problems
Most open source packages are written in Java
Any language you choose for the rest of this course
Linux system!
Math background
Probability
Discrete/continuous distributions, expectation, moments
Linear algebra
Vector, matrix, dot product
Optimization
Gradient-based methods
CS6501: Information Retrieval

5. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Pop-up quiz
Let a=(1,2,3) and b=(2,3,-2), the inner product between a and b is
(b) (c) (d) 3
Let A = ( ), what is A-1,
(a) ( −1 −2 −2 −1 ) (b) ( − − 1 3 ) (c) ( ) (d) ( )
CS6501: Information Retrieval

6. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Pop-up quiz
What is the expectation of random variables drawn from Gaussian distribution N(0, 1),
(b) (c) (d) 2
A biased coin with P(head)=0.2, in a sequence of 10 consecutive tossing, you have already got 9 tails, what is the probability you will have a head at the 10th tossing,
(a) (b) (c) (d) 0.2*0.89
CS6501: Information Retrieval

7. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Pop-up quiz
Let a=(1,2,3) and b=(2,3,-2), the inner product between a and b is
(b) (c) (d) 3
Let A = ( ), what is A-1,
(a) ( −1 −2 −2 −1 ) (b) ( − − 1 3 ) (c) ( ) (d) ( )
(c)
(b)
CS6501: Information Retrieval

8. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Pop-up quiz
What is the expectation of random variables drawn from Gaussian distribution N(0, 1),
(b) (c) (d) 2
A biased coin with P(head)=0.2, in a sequence of 10 consecutive tossing, you have already got 9 tails, what is the probability you will have a head at the 10th tossing,
(a) (b) (c) (d) 0.2*0.89
(a)
(c)
(d)
CS6501: Information Retrieval

9. Structure of this course
Six major topics will be covered by lectures
E.g., Search engine architecture, retrieval models, search evaluation, relevance feedback, and link analysis
Latest development will be covered by workshop-style paper presentations
E.g., mobile search, recommendation, personalization, you name it!
CS6501: Information Retrieval

10. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Grading policy
Homework (20%)
Machine problems (~2)
Quizzes (15%)
Check points of key concepts (~4)
Panel discussion (10%)
Paper presentation (20%)
Course project (35%)
In the exam week
No curving will be applied!
fairness will be guaranteed by the instructor
CS6501: Information Retrieval

11. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Quiz
15 minutes in class
Format
True/False questions
Multiple choice questions
Short answer questions
CS6501: Information Retrieval

12. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Panel discussion
Share your opinions on information retrieval in real world
Facebook messenger’s new feature
Google Now’s future
Reasons of Yahoo’s decline
Next era of IR
CS6501: Information Retrieval

13. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Paper presentation
You teach us the latest development in the field
Present high-quality research papers published in the top IR conferences in the past three years
Lead the discussion about the paper you choose
Give your comments and thoughts about it
CS6501: Information Retrieval

14. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Course project
Topics
Implement algorithms in assigned research papers
Self-selected topics with permission from the instructor
Team work
2-3 students per group
Evaluation
Two-page proposal (25%)
25-minutes in-class presentation (40%)
Written report (35%)
CS6501: Information Retrieval

15. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Late policy
Homework
Submit via Collab (no extension)
Late penalty: 15%, two weeks after the due date; 50%, afterwards
Course project
Final report is due before presentation (no extension)
CS6501: Information Retrieval

16. Classroom participation
HIGHLY APPRECIATED!
Helps me quickly remember your names
Reminds me what is still confusing
You can drive the lecture/discussion in this class!
CS6501: Information Retrieval

17. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Contact information
Lecture
Instructor: Hongning Wang
Time: Tuesday/Thursday 12:30pm to 1:45pm
Location: Rice Hall 340
Office hour
Time: Wednesday 10:00am to 11:00am
Location: Rice Hall 408
Course website
Website:
Piazza:
CS6501: Information Retrieval

18. CS6501: Information Retrieval
Thank you!
Questions?
CS6501: Information Retrieval