Improving the evaluation of web search systems

Linkage analysis as an aid to web search has been assumed to be of significant benefit and we know that it is being implemented by many major Search Engines. Why then have few TREC participants been able to scientifically prove the benefits of linkage analysis over the past three years? In this paper we put forward reasons why disappointing results have been found and we identify the linkage density requirements of a dataset to faithfully support experiments into linkage analysis. We also report a series of linkage-based retrieval experiments on a more densely linked dataset culled from the TREC web documents

ShopWithMe!: Collaborative Information Searching and Shopping for Online Retail

We present research on the development and evaluation of a collaborative search and shopping system for online retail tasks based on domain specific product requirements. We describe the design rationale for the system development and inclusion of collaborative features, including search, chat, clip-board, product suggestions, shared views, and shopping cart with a focus on how these features are used for collaborative online retail shopping and information searching and sharing. Our research goal is to understand whether collaborative search tools are useful in supporting actual collaborative online retail shopping tasks for experience goods. We describe system development and report findings from preliminary user studies of the system, using mixed methods analysis, with an emphasis on the qualitative findings. The findings highlight that systems for the online shopping domain can support searching, shared views, and group communication to aid in collaborative shopping for experience goods by improving information sharing among group members. Implications are that ecommerce systems, websites, and web apps should support collaboration based on product types

Organizational measures and software to determine HEE rating in the Internet network

В роботі проведено аналіз існуючих систем оцінювання рейтингу наукової діяльності ВНЗ в мережі Інтернет. Розглянуто існуючі критерії оцінки університетського порталу (веб-сайтів факультетів, кафедр, наукових підрозділів, науково-дослідних лабораторій та інше). На основі проведеного аналізу, виявлено ряд факторів, які суттєво впливають на позиції ТНТУ в світових інтернет рейтингах. В роботі детально розглянуто та досліджено існуючі програмні засоби аналізу веб-ресурсів, автоматизованої оцінки наукової діяльності. В дипломній роботі магістра досліджено методології побудови рейтингів, запропоновано пропозиції щодо заходів (організаційного, методичного, програмного) характеру для покращення рейтингу ВНЗ. На основі аналізу веб-сайтів ТНТУ запропоновано пропозиції щодо наповнення Інтернет-сайтів університету текстовою, графічною інформацією та файлами. Сформовано вимоги до технічної реалізації сайтів та рекомендації з індексації в провідних пошукових системах, які дозволять покращити рейтинг.In the work the analysis of existing systems of evaluation of the scientific activity of higher educational establishments on the Internet is conducted. Existing criteria for evaluation of university portal (web-sites of faculties, departments, scientific subdivisions, research laboratories, etc.) are considered. On the basis of the analysis, a number of factors have been identified that significantly influence the position of TNTU in world Internet rankings. In the work the existing software tools for analyzing web resources, automated evaluation of scientific activity are examined and researched in detail. In the dissertation of the master the methodology of rating is investigated, suggestions on the measures (organizational, methodical, programmatic) for improving the rating of universities are proposed. On the basis of the analysis of TNTU web sites, proposals were made for filling the university's Internet sites with text, graphic information and files. Formed the requirements for the technical implementation of sites and recommendations for indexing in leading search engines, which will improve the rating

Successes, challenges and needs regarding rural health medical education in continental central America: A literature review and narrative synthesis

Introduction: Central American countries, like many others, face a shortage of rural health physicians. Most medical schools in this region are located in urban areas and focus on tertiary care training rather than on community health or primary care, which are better suited for rural practice. However, many countries require young physicians to do community service in rural communities to address healthcare provider shortages. This study aimed to: (a) synthesize what is known about the current state of medical education preparing physicians for rural practice in this region, and (b) identify common needs, challenges and opportunities for improving medical education in this area. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted between December 2013 and May 2014. The stepwise, reproducible search process included English and Spanish language resources from both data-based web search engines (PubMed, Web of Science/Web of Knowledge, ERIC and Google Scholar) and the grey literature. Search criteria included MeSH terms: ‘medical education’, ‘rural health’, ‘primary care’, ‘community medicine’, ‘social service’, in conjunction with ‘Central America’, ‘Latin America’, ‘Mexico’, ‘Guatemala’, ‘Belize’, ‘El Salvador’, ‘Nicaragua’, ‘Honduras’, ‘Costa Rica’ and ‘Panama’. Articles were included in the review if they (1) were published after 1984; (2) focused on medical education for rural health, primary care, community health; and (3) involved the countries of interest. A narrative synthesis of the content of resources meeting inclusion criteria was done using qualitative research methods to identify common themes pertaining to the study goals. Results: The search revealed 20 resources that met inclusion criteria. Only four of the 20 were research articles; therefore, information about this subject was primarily derived from expert opinion. Thematic analysis revealed the historical existence of several innovative programs that directly address rural medicine training needs, suggesting that expertise is present in this region. However, numerous challenges limit sustainability or expansion of successful programs. Common challenges include: (a) physicians’ exposure to rural medicine primarily takes place during social service commitment time, rather than during formal medical training; (b) innovative educational programs are often not sustainable due to financial and leadership challenges; (c) the majority of physician manpower is in urban areas, resulting in few rural physician role models and teachers; and (d) there is insufficient collaboration to establish clinical and educational systems to meet rural health needs. Recurring suggestions for curricular changes include: (a) making primary care training a core component of medical school education; and (b) expanding medical school curricula in crosscultural communication and social determinants of disease. Suggestions for health system changes include: (a) improving living and working conditions for rural physicians; and (b) establishing partnerships between educational, governmental and non-governmental organizations and rural community leadership, to promote rural health training and systems. Conclusions: Expertise in rural medicine and training exists in continental Central America. However, there are numerous challenges to improving medical education to meet the needs of rural communities. Overcoming these challenges will require creative solutions, new partnerships, and evaluation and dissemination of successful educational programs. There is a great need for further research on this topic

Exploration of applying a theory-based user classification model to inform personalised content-based image retrieval system design

© ACM, 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published at http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2903636To better understand users and create more personalised search experiences, a number of user models have been developed, usually based on different theories or empirical data study. After developing the user models, it is important to effectively utilise them in the design, development and evaluation of search systems to improve users’ overall search experiences. However there is a lack of research has been done on the utilisation of the user models especially theory-based models, because of the challenges on the utilization methodologies when applying the model to different search systems. This paper explores and states how to apply an Information Foraging Theory (IFT) based user classification model called ISE to effectively identify user’s search characteristics and create user groups, based on an empirically-driven methodology for content-based image retrieval (CBIR) systems and how the preferences of different user types inform the personalized design of the CBIR systems

Multilingual adaptive search for digital libraries

This paper describes a framework for Adaptive Multilingual Information Retrieval (AMIR) which allows multilingual resource discovery and delivery using on-the-fly machine translation of documents and queries. Result documents are presented to the user in a contextualised manner. Challenges and affordances of both Adaptive and Multilingual IR, with a particular focus on Digital Libraries, are detailed. The framework components are motivated by a series of results from experiments on query logs and documents from The European Library. We conclude that factoring adaptivity and multilinguality aspects into the search process can enhance the user’s experience with online Digital Libraries