This assignment is not for a mark, but it must be completed individually before our class assignment on Wednesday, April 9th. I want honest answers, to help me fine-tune the course and understand the extent to which we have accomplished the learning objectives
Answer the following questions very briefly:
• What, if anything, of what you learnt during this first part of the course is applicable to your experience as a school student when you do research for other subjects?
• What is the most important thing you have learned throughout the unit and why?
• Are there any further questions / related topics that you feel should be covered or you are interested in and we have not discussed?
Please submit your answers to these questions to itgs.sass@gmail.com
Thursday, March 27, 2008
RECAP
During this first part of our course, we have studied search engines, their underlying mechanism, characteristics and some of the potential implications on individuals and society of their manipulation.
The topics that we have covered include:
• Basic knowledge of the Internet, servers and clients, protocols, data packets, IP, DNS.
• The nature of search engines, their four main characteristics, indexing algorithms, what makes a search engine better than others.
• Validating sources.
• A brief glimpse into the nature of search engine algorithms. Search Engine Optimization. Pagerank. Google bombing.
• How search engines can be manipulated and their potential effects on individuals and society.
• User constructed search engine queries, search engine design criteria, tendencies, differences between novice and advanced users.
WARNING: I will not be doing this in successive units, since one of the learning objectives of this course is to be able to distinguish relevant and non-relevant information as well as developing the ability to sort out data that is not necessarily in written form.
The topics that we have covered include:
• Basic knowledge of the Internet, servers and clients, protocols, data packets, IP, DNS.
• The nature of search engines, their four main characteristics, indexing algorithms, what makes a search engine better than others.
• Validating sources.
• A brief glimpse into the nature of search engine algorithms. Search Engine Optimization. Pagerank. Google bombing.
• How search engines can be manipulated and their potential effects on individuals and society.
• User constructed search engine queries, search engine design criteria, tendencies, differences between novice and advanced users.
WARNING: I will not be doing this in successive units, since one of the learning objectives of this course is to be able to distinguish relevant and non-relevant information as well as developing the ability to sort out data that is not necessarily in written form.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Assignment#4: constructing web search queries
Our last lecture focused on how search engines study user habits and characteristics when designing their web searches.
Suppose you had to write a paper for your Biology class on possibilities for life existing on other planets. Working in pairs (once again, different from the previous two groups), your task is to identify four good sources to help you in the assignment.
Your assignment should include:
- A description of how you constructed/refined your successive queries.
- An analysis of why/how the search engine responded to your search terms, relevancy of the sites returned, a comparison of the efficiency of each query.
- The URLs of the sources.
- If you were the instructor of the class and had to give advice to your students on performing the search, without mentioning specific web sites, what would you tell them on how to build the query?
Assignments should be emailed to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Friday, March 28th.
Suppose you had to write a paper for your Biology class on possibilities for life existing on other planets. Working in pairs (once again, different from the previous two groups), your task is to identify four good sources to help you in the assignment.
Your assignment should include:
- A description of how you constructed/refined your successive queries.
- An analysis of why/how the search engine responded to your search terms, relevancy of the sites returned, a comparison of the efficiency of each query.
- The URLs of the sources.
- If you were the instructor of the class and had to give advice to your students on performing the search, without mentioning specific web sites, what would you tell them on how to build the query?
Assignments should be emailed to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Friday, March 28th.
Yahoo! Search video lecture
The following video provides interesting insight on search engine queries and their implications. The speaker is Dr. David Rose, from Yahoo! Search, and it will serve as a basis for our next assignment.
Assignment #3: search engine rankings
During the video that we watched, several key issues related to the inner workings of web search engines are discussed, as well as how web engines process their indexes.
We will use this assignment to try to visualize in a practical way how search engines, in this case Google, have such a powerful influence in how businesses and even individuals fare in society.
Answer the following questions in pairs, which have to be different from the groups you formed for the first assignment, and email them to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Wednesday, March 19th.
1) Suppose you want to find out about alternate energy and its applications, so perform a search query on electric cars on Google and one other web search engine and answer the following questions:
a. Compare the two search engines on the four criteria outlined in the video (Length, depth, frequency, types of files indexed)
b. Analyze the results from the first page and explain the reasons for the first four sites to be ranked on each engine.
c. What can you conclude about each search engine’s ranking algorithms?
2) Explain what Pagerank and SEO are and briefly outline how web site owners can utilize strategies to rank higher on search engines.
3) Conduct the following searches on Google:
- Arabian Gulf
- Talentless hack
- Miserable failure
and, with regards to the above searches, explain what “Google bombing” is as well as its potential implications for individuals and organizations.
We will use this assignment to try to visualize in a practical way how search engines, in this case Google, have such a powerful influence in how businesses and even individuals fare in society.
Answer the following questions in pairs, which have to be different from the groups you formed for the first assignment, and email them to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Wednesday, March 19th.
1) Suppose you want to find out about alternate energy and its applications, so perform a search query on electric cars on Google and one other web search engine and answer the following questions:
a. Compare the two search engines on the four criteria outlined in the video (Length, depth, frequency, types of files indexed)
b. Analyze the results from the first page and explain the reasons for the first four sites to be ranked on each engine.
c. What can you conclude about each search engine’s ranking algorithms?
2) Explain what Pagerank and SEO are and briefly outline how web site owners can utilize strategies to rank higher on search engines.
3) Conduct the following searches on Google:
- Arabian Gulf
- Talentless hack
- Miserable failure
and, with regards to the above searches, explain what “Google bombing” is as well as its potential implications for individuals and organizations.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
How Search Engines Work
Our first topic for analysis and discussion is how search engines work. Search engines have become an essential component of everyday life and their influence is undoubtedly far reaching. We will learn about the topic by watching the following video from a lecture by Dr. Marti Hearst at the University of California at Berkeley.
There is plenty of information available on the inner workings of search engines. Two such links include:
- The Animated Internet: How Search Engines Work
- How Internet Search Engines Work at howstuffworks.
There is plenty of information available on the inner workings of search engines. Two such links include:
- The Animated Internet: How Search Engines Work
- How Internet Search Engines Work at howstuffworks.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Assignment #2
Take two statements from the Terra 2050 Videos and, using web search engines, try to assess their validity. In order to do this, you must write a short document citing the sources used and the reasons why you arrive at a certain conclusion.
All assignments should include:
- Statement.
- Annotated links with a short discussion on how they tend to prove or disprove the statement.
- A brief analysis of the validity of each source.
- A conclusion that sums up the above.
The assignment must be done in pairs, and submitted to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Wednesday, March 12th, 2008.
Criteria for grading include:
- Clarity of presentation, including summarization techniques.
- Quality and depth of the analysis.
- Use of valid sources.
All assignments should include:
- Statement.
- Annotated links with a short discussion on how they tend to prove or disprove the statement.
- A brief analysis of the validity of each source.
- A conclusion that sums up the above.
The assignment must be done in pairs, and submitted to itgs.sass@gmail.com before Wednesday, March 12th, 2008.
Criteria for grading include:
- Clarity of presentation, including summarization techniques.
- Quality and depth of the analysis.
- Use of valid sources.
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