Information retrieval workshop

Search engines are widely used for information retrieval in many large digital (text) collections such as the Internet. Consequently, information retrieval has become a core digital method - and a crucial skill - for the humanities and other research.

An ability to use the search engine and query formulation is the foundation of the search process. Effective query formulation improves search results and information interaction (White, 2016; Järvelin et al., 2015). Query formulation involves constructing a query for a search engine to express an information need. Typically, a user expresses it in the form of keywords and phrases. The queries are matched against a document collection by a search engine. The quality of results is heavily dependent on the query expression. Earlier research indicates that query formulation and reformulation can be one of the most problematic and challenging tasks for users (Rieh & Xie, 2006; White, Richardson & Yih, 2015).

This event consists of a lecture about information retrieval with search engines and a workshop/hackathon, where a gamified approach is used to improve search engine literacy and searching skills (Arvola & Alamettälä, 2022). Exercises will be done language independently.

The main themes are 1) information retrieval in context (including for example information seeking and problem solving) and 2) information retrieval systems i.e., search engines (including for example queries, matching, ranking, evaluation, natural language processing, and user interfaces).

No prior knowledge about the topic is required. The workshop is hybrid and consists of online exercises using a standard web browser, thus own laptop is preferred (no software will be installed).