ISBN:020139829XFrom the Inside Flap
Information retrieval (IR) has changed considerably in recent years with the expansion of the World Wide Web and the advent of modern and inexpensive graphical user interfaces and mass storage devices. As a result., traditional IR textbooks have become quite out of date and this has led to the introduction of new IR books. Nevertheless, we believe that there is still great need for a book that approaches the field in a rigorous and complete way from a computer-science perspective (as opposed to a user-centered perspective). This book is an effort to partially fulfill this gap and should be useful for a first course on information retrieval as well as for a graduate course on the topic.
The book comprises two portions which complement and balance each other. The core portion includes nine chapters authored or co-authored by the designers of the book. The second portion, which is fully integrated with the first, is formed by six state-of-the-art chapters written by leading researchers in their fields. The same notation and glossary are used in all the chapters. Thus, despite the fact that several people have contributed to the text, this book is really much more a textbook than an edited collection of chapters written by separate authors. Furthermore, unlike a collection of chapters, we have carefully designed the contents and organization of the book to present a cohesive view of all the important aspects of modern information retrieval.
From IR models to indexing text, from IR visual tools and interfaces to the Web, from IR. multimedia to digital libraries, the book provides both breadth of coverage and richness of detail. It is our hope that, given the now clear relevance and significance of information retrieval to modern society. the book will contribute to further disseminate the study of the discipline at information science, computer science, and library science departments throughout the world.
Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Santiago, Chile
Berthier Ribeiro-Neto. Belo Horizonte, Brazil
January, 1999 020139829XP04062001/p>
Reviews From AMAZON.COM
Great textbook for computer science undergraduate and graduate courses and reference for IR practitioners
Modern Information Retrieval is a textbook for computer science undergraduate and graduate courses and a reference book for IR practitioners.
The book structure consists of a Preface, Acknowledgements, Biographies, fifteen chapters, Appendix, Glossary, References and Index. The first part of the book is authored or co-authored and addresses query and text operations, retrieval and indexing. The second part consists of special topics authored by leading researchers in their fields. This part focuses on architecture, multimedia IR, bibliographical systems and digital libraries.
The Glossary section of this book consists of 18 pages and defines important technical terms used in IR. The References section consists of 45 pages of significant IR work. The Index section consists of 13 pages, which enhances the book usability. Each chapter ends with a Trends and Research Issues and a Bibliographic Discussion section.
The best features of the book are its cohesive presentation and organization. The use of a common nomenclature and notation helps students and readers to assimilate key concepts and with "connecting the dots" across chapters. The text is reinforced by a mirrored Web site with several resources, errata page and teaching material. In Chapter 1, the authors even "go the extra mile" with teachers and suggest how chapters could be used with different undergraduate and graduate courses. All this makes the book a great educational resource for students and teachers.
This book is recommended for computer science courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. It is also recommended for technical libraries and as a primary reference for IR practitioners.
Stellar presentation of complex material
A fantastic, in depth, survey of all the issues surrounding IR, from algorithms to presentation of IR results. With one clear authorial voice, the authors present all the things you hope a survey book will- a structured, coherent and complete framework onto which you can append future learning; what common practice within commercial industry really is; a quantitative analysis of the relative effectiveness of each algorithm, including the methodolgy used to arrive at results; an in-depth and clear explanation of all major algorithms.
They also give fair warning when they are only covering the outline of subject matter (which is rare), and they give extensive footnotes for anyone who needs to go deeper. The writing is always clear; the auithors never engage in the type of handwaving that other authors use to get past material you have the impression they themselves don't fully grasp.
If you need to implement search for a database and don't know where to start or what might be involved, this is the book for you. If you need to implement the GUI for search results and are wondering what the state of the art is and what issues are involved, then this is the book for you. If you need a well-structured framework to help you understand how internet search engines work, then this is the book for you. If you want to press the research forward on any of these topics and you are not already fluent in the literature, then this is the book for you.