Course Description

Course Content

This lecture-oriented course studies the theory, design, and implementation of text-based search engines, retrieval augmented generation, and recommender systems. The core components include statistical characteristics of text, several important lexical retrieval models, several recent neural models, experimental evaluation, and fair ranking. The course also covers common elements of commercial search engines, for example, personalized search results and diverse search results. The software architecture components include design and implementation of large-scale, distributed search engines.

This is a full-semester course. The graduate section (11-642) is 12 units. The undergraduate section (11-442) is 9 units.

The main difference between the two sections (11-442, 11-642) is the amount of analysis, writing, and time required to complete homework assignments.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students are expected to have developed the skills listed below.

• Recall and discuss well-known search engine and recommender system architectures, methods of representing text documents, methods of representing information needs, and methods of evaluating search effectiveness;
• Implement well-known retrieval and recommendation algorithms, and test them on standard datasets; and
• Apply information retrieval techniques discussed in class to solve problems faced by governments and companies.

Skills are assessed by the homework assignments; and by exams.

Eligibility

This course is open to all students who meet the prerequisites.

Prerequisites

This course requires good programming skills and an understanding of computer architectures and operating systems (e.g., memory vs. disk trade-offs). A basic understanding of probability, statistics, and linear algebra is helpful. Thus students should have preparation comparable to the following CMU undergraduate courses.

• 15-210, Parallel and Sequential Data Structures and Algorithms (required)
• 15-213, Introduction to Computer Systems (required)
• 15-451, Algorithm Design and Analysis (helpful)
• 21-241, Matrices and Linear Transformations or 21-341, Linear Algebra (required)
• 21-325, Probability (required)
• 36-202, Methods for Statistics & Data Science (helpful)

Homework assignments are done in the Python programming language, thus students must also have good Python programming skills.

Course Materials

Lecture Slides: Copies of the lecture slides are posted on the syllabus course web page, usually within 24 hours.

Textbook: The textbook is Introduction to Information Retrieval, Christopher D. Manning, Prabhakar Raghavan, and Hinrich Schutze, Cambridge University Press. 2008. You may use the printed copy or the online copy, but note that the reading instructions refer to the printed copy.

Readings: Additional selected readings will be available through the class syllabus web page.

Piazza: A discussion forum is provided for students to ask questions, answer questions, and discuss class-related topics. You must register yourself to access the discussion forum. Please provide a CMU email address when you join the discussion (you can use other email addresses, too). We may periodically remove people that do not have CMU email addresses.

Homework Services: Homework Services web page provides information about your homework submissions and access to graded homework reports. Each individual homework has its own web pages that describe the assignment and provide access to automated testing services.

Restricted access: Online access to some materials (additional readings, lecture notes, datasets, etc) is restricted to CMU people. Students on CMU local and virtual private networking IP addresses have direct access. Other students can gain access usinga password.

Homework

5 assignments that give hands-on experience with techniques discussed in class. Homework must be done individually, and students may not share their work with other students. See the course Academic Integrity policy for more information.

Grading

• 5 homework assignments (12% each, 60% total), midterm exam (20%), final exam (20%).
• Final course grades are assigned using a curve. Typically the median GPA is about 3.5.

Course Policies

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

If you have a disability and are registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to use their online system to notify me of your accommodations and discuss your needs with me as early in the semester as possible. I will work with you to ensure that accommodations are provided as appropriate. If you suspect that you may have a disability and would benefit from accommodations but are not yet registered with the Office of Disability Resources, I encourage you to contact them at access@andrew.cmu.edu.

If You Are Having Difficulty

If you are having difficulty in any of your courses, please consider reaching out to the Student Academic Success Center (SASC). SASC provides the following services.

• Individual and small group coaching on the development of successful learning habits such as time management, stress reduction, and other skills (Academic Coaching).
• Consultation for multilingual and international students (Language and Cross-Cultural Support).
• Individual consultations and workshops to support excellence in communication of written texts, oral presentations, and data visualization (Communication Support).

Advice From The Faculty

This course is a lot of work. Take care of yourself. Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress.

If you find yourself struggling with the material or workload, please ask for help. All of us benefit from support during times of struggle. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful.

If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is here to help: call 412-268-2922 and visit their website at https://www.cmu.edu/counseling/. Consider reaching out to a friend, faculty or family member you trust for help getting connected to the support that can help.