Information Retrieval List Digest 361 (June 23, 1997) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/irld/irld-361 IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 June 23, 1997 Volume XIV, Number 23 Issue 361 ********************************************************** II. JOBS 1. U. Limerick: Lecturer, Language Engineering 2. U.Washington: GSLIS Director Search 3. Groningen, The Netherlands: PostDoc, Text Processing III. NOTICES A. Publications 1. Washington Update 6/20/97 B. Meetings 1. Computer Policy and Law Program C. Miscellaneous 1. Satellite TV Course IV. PROJECTS A. Abstracts 1. Relevance Study of Web Search Engines D. Miscellaneous 1. US University & Industry Researchers: NSF GOALI ********************************************************** II. JOBS II.1. Fr: Richard Sutcliffe Re: U. Limerick: Lecturer, Language Engineering Lecturer/Assistant Lecturer in Language Engineering (Contract Post) The Department of Computer Science and Information Systems is one of three Departments comprising the College of Informatics & Electronics. It has a student enrolment of 500 and offers a BSc in Computer Systems, an MSc in Music Technology, an MSc in Software Re-Engineering, a Graduate Diploma/MSc in Software Localisation and a Graduate Diploma in Computing. Supervision of candidates for the degrees of MSc and PhD is also undertaken and further programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels are planned. Research within the Department covers a number of areas including Combinatorial Optimisation, Communications Network Management, Computational Musicology, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Decompilation, Formal Methods, Language Engineering, Multimedia, Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms, Reverse and Re-Engineering and Software Engineering. Applications are invited for a LECTURER/ASSISTANT LECTURER on contract. The successful applicant will have a broad expertise in both Language Engineering (Computational Linguistics) and Corpus Linguistics and will be capable of lecturing in these areas at graduate level. Candidates should possess a postgraduate qualification preferably at doctoral level in a relevant area and appropriate industrial experience is highly desirable. Lecturer: IRP22,229 - IRP38,124 p.a. Assistant Lecturer: IRP17,776 - IRP22,236 p.a. Application material together with full details of current teaching and research activities are available from: The Personnel Department University of Limerick Limerick, Ireland Tel: 353 61 202 700 Fax: 353 61 331 881 EMail: personnel@ul.ie The closing date for receipt of completed application forms is Friday 11 July 1997. Informal enquiries regarding this post may also be directed to the Head of Department, Dr Richard F. E. Sutcliffe, Telephone: +353 61 202706, Fax +353 61 330876, EMail: sutcliffer@ul.ie. Please CC to dohertyc@ul.ie in order to ensure a rapid response in the event of absence. For more information on the Department and its activities see www.csis.ul.ie . Find out more about the Centre for Language Engineering and the new Graduate Diploma / M.Sc. in Software Localisation at www.csis.ul.ie/cle . The University is an equal opportunities employer and committed to selection on merit. As women are under represented In this area and at this level applications from women are particularly welcome. ********** II.2. Fr: Efthimis Efthimiadis Re: U.Washington: GSLIS Director Search UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DIRECTOR, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE The University of Washington, Seattle, seeks an energetic and creative Director who can provide transformative leadership for its Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Unique opportunities are provided by several faculty vacancies; partnerships with strong UW entities such as the Libraries, the Office of Computing and Communications, and various academic departments; proximity to the nation's most vibrant information technology industry; a key regional role in library and information science; and strong support from the institution for reshaping the School. The successful candidate must understand the changing role of librarians and libraries in society, and the changing nature of information management and use. He or she should be willing to think flexibly and creatively about these changes and possess the ability to describe and pursue a vision and chart a path for transforming the curriculum and the School to a position of national prominence in these areas. A Ph.D. in an appropriate area and research and teaching accomplishments appropriate to appointment at the full professor level are also required. Candidates must demonstrate a record of establishing cooperative relationships with campus departments and with industry, libraries, and other information organizations beyond the campus; a successful record of fund raising; a strong commitment to working with students; and a proven ability to lead a diverse group of faculty. Competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. Send applications and nominations, detailed curriculum vitae and names of three references to: Associate Dean Elizabeth L. Feetham Chair, GSLIS Director Search Committee The Graduate School/Room 200 Gerberding Hall Box 351240 Seattle, Wa 98195-1240 Applications will be reviewed beginning August 1, 1997, and continue until the position is filled. The University of Washington is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. ********** II.3. Fr: Marc Weeber Re: Groningen, The Netherlands: PostDoc, Text Processing JOB POSITION: Postdoc Dept. Social Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology, Groningen Institute for Drug Studies, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, The Netherlands. DESCRIPTION: The working group Social Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology performs fundamental and applied research on epidemiological and medical literature databases in order to determine effectiveness/side-effects profiles of drugs. A post-doc is asked for to participate in the program to develop computer text analysis and pattern recognition techniques for the extraction of (side)effect profiles of drugs from pharmaceutical and medical electronic literature databases: (1) as a source of information for finding new leads in innovative drug research; and (2) as a new way of determining benefit-risk profiles of drugs. A PhD-student is assigned to this program as well. REQUIREMENTS: A computer linguist or computer scientist, who has completed a PhD-project with expertise in corpus linguistics, mathematical linguistics or intelligent information retrieval; interest in pharmaceutical sciences and innovative drug research; expertise in data mining or pattern recognition methods is desired. REMARKS: The salary is on the basis of ministry guidelines at the minimum Dfl. 3844,- and at the maximum Dfl. f. 7.125,- (schaal 10/11 RWOO) bruto pro month, dependent on education and experience. The working group Social Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology is part of the Dutch School 'Groningen-Utrecht Institute for Drug Exploration' (GUIDE), acknowledged by the Royal Dutch Academy of the Sciences. The appointment is for two years. Information on this project: Prof.dr. R. Vos, email: r.vos@farm.rug.nl; tel. +31.50.3633331/3633272; fax. +31.50.3633311. Reactions a.s.a.p., and preferably before July 1st, 1997. ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.A.1. Fr: Garret Sern Re: Washington Update 6/20/97 FARNET's WASHINGTON UPDATE --- June 20, 1997 IN THIS ISSUE: Status of NSF appropriations and the potential consequences for NGI Senate Commerce Committee passes Secure Public Networks Act (S.909) IN THE NEXT FARNET WASHINGTON UPDATE: Supreme Court decision on Communications Decency Act due soon Update on the Internet domain name issue First petitions against FCC ban on interconnection charges & the potential effect on Internet service providers >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is a service to FARNET members and other interested subscribers. We gratefully acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI)for additional support. If you would like more information about the Update or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Garret Sern at garret@farnet.org. ********** III.B.1. Fr: Gerry Bernbom Re: Computer Policy and Law Program CORNELL UNIVERSITY COMPUTER POLICY AND LAW July 9-11, 1997 Ithaca, New York An Invitation To Technology Administrators, Legal Counsel, Judicial Administrators, Risk Managers, Auditors, Librarians, and Affirmative Action Officers at Colleges and Universities. In order to design appropriate computer-use policies and to plan for their effective implementation, colleges and universities must develop a new level of collaboration between technology specialists and the institution's legal counsel. At COMPUTER POLICY AND LAW, participants will examine the legal implications of extensive campus networking and explore frameworks for limiting personal and institutional exposure to liability, while at the same time preserving free speech and academic freedom. All too often computer-use policies are developed in response to crises resulting from the misuse of computer and networking resources. The Computer Policy and Law program will provide a much-needed opportunity to take stock of our institutional policies in an atmosphere of frank evaluation and informed discussion. PLEASE JOIN US as we identify the hallmarks of best practice in this area and develop the policy frameworks that will serve all of us in the critical days ahead. PROGRAM SESSIONS: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: We'll go on-line to explore the remarkable resources available to the faculty, staff, and students of an Information Age institution and to discover how electronic communications are used for scholarship and instruction, registration and record-keeping, study and research. As we review the state of the art of electronic communications technologies, we will identify the legal issues raised by the use of e-mail, listservs, discussion groups, the World-Wide Web, and desktop videoconferencing systems, such as Cornell's CU-SeeMe. COPYRIGHT IN CYBERSPACE: Electronic communication technologies have dramatically increased the ease with which words and images can be copied, altered, and disseminated. On-line instructional from other sources. While copyright infringement is widespread on the Internet, it is not legal. Current case law and legislation provide mixed signals about an institution's responsibility to curb copyright infringement on its computer networks. This session will review how institutional copyright policies can navigate such uncertainty and provide accurate information about the application of copyright laws and permissions policies in cyberspace. It will also cover trademark law, including strategies for protecting institutional logos and domain names. An entire session is devoted to the future of copyright law and policy. PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE: Public-key encryption provides the technological base for secure e-mail, digitally "signed" transactions, and reliable authentication. For higher education, this technology will present new opportunites for conducting business electronically, both with outside organizations and between internal departments. Interactions among all members of the university community will likely be impacted. This session will examine the emerging public-key infrastructure in the context of existing and anticipated legislation and case law. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS: INSTITUTIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY: This presentation will provide an overview of laws relating to libel, pornography, obscenity, indecency, and "negligent publication" (including the Telecommunications Act of 1996), as they pertain to colleges and universities in their roles as on-line information distributors. It will focus on the new theories of law used in recent litigation over on-line incidents, including CyberPromotions v. AOL. We will outline a number of steps that network administrators can take to minimize institutional and individual liability when responding to complaints about illegal or offensive materials. ON-LINE PRIVACY: The institution may own the computers and the networks, but who owns the information on them? What on-line privacy rights do computer users have, and does the answer vary by an individual's status as a student, faculty member, or staff member? Formulating answers that will provide a basis for policy making, we will look at the details of open records laws, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and discovery issues surrounding records retention policies. POLICY PANEL: College and university administrators are called upon with increasing frequency to respond to complaints about misuse of computer resources, many involving such emotionally charged issues as harassment and discrimination. In this panel presentation, representatives of a variety of institutions will describe the policies they relied on -- or later implemented -- to deal with a number of highly publicized computer-abuse cases. Panelists will address how well these institutional policies served those affected by the conflict and what steps they would take in resolving similar problems today. Particular attention will be given to the ways institutional goals and administrative structures should influence policy design and implementation. COMPUTER CRIME AND THE LAW: This session will provide an update on recent initiatives of the US Department of Justice Computer Crime Unit, including current perspectives on the ECPA. Topics will include the scope of the computer crime problem, changes in legislation, sentencing guidelines, and efforts on domestic and international fronts to reduce computer-related crimes. DESIGNING COMPUTER-USE POLICIES YOU CAN LIVE WITH: Pulling it all together, this session will provide a framework for policy making on your campus. Highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of existing policies, we will address ways to decrease legal and public relations liability, to use educational programs to inform campus communities about their rights and responsibilities in cyberspace, and to draw on model policies to meet the needs and goals of individual institutions. THE CORNELL LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE POST-PROGRAM OPEN HOUSE: The Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School (LII) was established in July, 1992 to explore new ways of distributing legal documents and commentary in electronic form. The LII will host an Open House at the Cornell Law School on Friday, 11 July, 1997, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. The founding (and current) directors of the LII, Thomas R. Bruce and Peter W. Martin, the Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law at Cornell, will be present to answer questions about the development, operation, and future initiatives of the Institute. All participants in the Computer Policy and Law Program are invited to attend. PROGRAM PRESENTERS: Dan L. Burk, Assistant Professor of Law, Seton Hall University Mark Eckenwiler, Attorney, Computer Crime Unit, Department of Justice Robert W. Hamilton, Partner, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue Marjorie W. Hodges, Program Director, Computer Policy and Law, and Policy Advisor, Office of Information Technologies, Cornell University Barbara L. Krause, Judicial Administrator, Cornell University Terrence P. Maher, Special Counsel, Cooley, Godward, LLP FOR INFORMATION: Computer Policy and Law E-mail: sp@sce.cornell.edu Phone: (607) 255-7259 Fax: (607) 255-8942 B20 Day Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2801 http://www.sce.cornell.edu/exec/CPL.html ********** III.C.1. Fr: Ben Shneiderman Re: Satellite TV Course Designing the User Interface: 5-hour satellite TV course September 17, 1997 - Produced by University of Maryland Ben Shneiderman presents an overview of human-computer interaction in connection with the publication of the third edition of his book. More information is available at: http://www.glue.umd.edu/itv/dui97.html and by email: itv@eng.umd.edu or phone: 301-405-4905 INTENDED AUDIENCE: Researchers, advanced developers, designers, usability testers, trainers, technical writers, and managers of user interfaces. COURSE DESCRIPTION: It is time to get angry about the quality of user interfaces. It is time to do better. In this live, interactive broadcast, Ben Shneiderman provides a current, and authoritative review of user-interface design. Well-designed interfaces are comprehensible, predictable, and controllable; users feel competent, satisfied, and responsible for their actions. You will learn about the Lucid Design Method to create such effective interactions, and the evaluation techniques such as expert reviews and usability testing. Viewers will acquire invaluable techniques for creating systems that facilitate rapid learning and performance, yield low error rates, and generate high user satisfaction. Demonstrations of novel interfaces will illustrate effective messages, consistent screen design, error prevention, and shortcuts for experts. Special attention will be given to design for the World Wide Web and Information Visualization. Ben Shneiderman will offer his view of future directions such as large screen displays and thought-provoking discussions of speech input/output, "computer supported collaborative work, educational computing, virtual environments, and agents This program combines theory and research with guidelines and practical examples, all designed to help you in your work. It will introduce the WWW booksite that provides educational and practitioner support related to the book contents. HOURLY SCHEDULE: 1. Overview for designers and managers Business case for usability engineering Development methodologies and software tools Controversey: expert reviews vs. usability testing 2. Advanced designs: What's next? Speech systems Groupware Wearables, mobile computing, and webtops Controversey: direct manipulation vs. agents 3. Information visualization comes of age Why visual data mining is a winner Which of the seven visualizations do you need? Controversey: 2-D vs 3-D 4. Web Design Changing communities shape new designs How to make your web site stand out Designing for universal service Saving search engines from disaster Controversey: narrow/deep vs. broad/shallow trees 5. Education and Training Distance learning Designing the User Interface: The Booksite Controversey: Universities will die vs. thrive Discussion based on audience questions by phone and fax. **A special discount for the Third Edition of Designing the User Interface is being offered to viewers of this program by Addison-Wesley Publishers. ********************************************************** IV. PROJECTS IV.A.1. Fr: H. Vernon Leighton Re: Relevance Study of Web Search Engines Announcing a new study of relevance among Web Search Engines, located at: http://www.winona.msus.edu/is-f/library-f/webind2/webind2.htm Here is a condensed version: Precision among World Wide Web Search Services (Search Engines): Alta Vista, Excite, Hotbot, Infoseek, Lycos By H. Vernon Leighton, MS in Computer Science, Government Documents Librarian, Winona State University, and Dr. Jaideep Srivastava, Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Minnesota. [FROM THE TEXT OF THE STUDY] [FROM THE FORWARD] This study was conducted in part to correct the problems present in Leighton's early study (Leighton, 1995). In that study, the test suite was inadequate, the statistical model was inappropriate, and the methods were subject to possible bias. ... [FROM THE ABSTRACT] Five search engines, Alta Vista, Excite, Hotbot, Infoseek, and Lycos, are compared for precision on the first twenty results returned for fifteen queries. All searching was done from January 31 to March 12, 1997. Steps have been taken to ensure that bias has not unduly influence the evaluation. Friedmann's randomized block design is used to perform multiple comparisons for significance. ... [FROM THE INTRODUCTION] ... We began this study because many previous studies have arrived at conflicting conclusions as to which services are better at delivering superior precision and because most of those studies have either had small test suites or have not reported how the study was conducted. This study compares all search services that have been recommended recently for their performance at delivering relevant results for the user, and uses a carefully controlled and documented experimental design to ensure valid results. The results of the various experiments indicate that there are three services, alphabetically Alta Vista, Excite and Infoseek, that are superior in most respects to the other two studied, Hotbot and Lycos, in terms of first twenty precision. How these top three rank compared to each other depends on how one defines "relevant." The chief problem with Hotbot is the frequent occurrence of duplicate links; the chief problems with Lycos's performance are irrelevant and inactive links. Lycos's irrelevant links are often caused by the lack of a "required" operator (often denoted by a + prefix). Both Hotbot and Lycos do not seem to implement the fuzzy match for unstructured queries, in which lower case search terms match both lower and upper case terms, but upper case only match upper case terms. ... [FROM THE RESULTS] The different experiments show how stark the contrast is in scores depending on how one defines "relevant." Experiment one called a link good if it at least technically satisfied the search expression. Here, the overall median was a healthy 0.81 with the best service scoring a 0.93. If ones definition of relevant is stricter [EXPERIMENT 2], dealing with only potentially useful pages, the overall median drops to 0.39, with the top scorer only making an estimated median of 0.51. If ones criterion is a page that is very likely to be useful [EXPERIMENT 3], the median disappears down to 0.06, with the top scorer only rising to 0.10. ... [FOR FURTHER EXPERIMENTS, SEE FULL VERSION] TABLE: The rankings and significant differences among the services Rankings Experiment Lowest Highest -------------------------------------------------------- 1 [Lyc Hot] [Inf] [Alt Exc] --------- --- --------- 2 [Lyc Hot] [Alt Exc Inf] --------- --------------- 3 [Lyc Hot] [Alt Exc] [Inf] --------- --------- --- . . . TABLE: Each service is ranked by experiment. Underlining and brackets indicate no significant difference. Alt = Alta Vista, Exc = Excite, Hot = Hotbot, Inf = Infoseek, Lyc = Lycos. H. Vernon Leighton Government Documents Librarian Winona State University Winona MN 55987 (507) 457-5148 Leighton@vax2.winona.msus.edu ********** IV.D.1. Fr: Maria Zemankova Re: US University & Industry Researchers: NSF GOALI Announcement GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACADEMIC LIAISON WITH INDUSTRY (GOALI) NSF 97-116 http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf97116 INITIATIVE ANNOUNCEMENT INTRODUCTION: A major objective of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to improve the nation's capacity for intellectual and economic growth. It does this by supporting the discovery of new knowledge and the enhancement of a skilled workforce. Industry can outline new technical challenges and assist in the support of academic institutions. By serving as a catalyst for industry-university partnerships, NSF helps ensure that intellectual capital and emerging technologies are brought together in ways that promote economic growth and an improved quality of life. The GOALI initiative aims to synergize university-industry partnerships by making funds available to support an eclectic mix of industry-university linkages. Special interest is focused on affording the opportunity for: (1) faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students to conduct research and gain experience with production processes in an industrial setting, (2) industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to academe, and (3) interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct long-term projects. This initiative targets high-risk/high-gain research with a focus on fundamental topics that would not have been undertaken by industry, new approaches to solving generic problems, development of innovative collaborative industry-university educational programs, and direct transfer of new knowledge between academe and industry. PROGRAM GUIDELINES (excerpt): The topics addressed in a GOALI award need not focus on fundamental issues only, but should address long-term, generic research within an intellectual envelope shared by the industrial partner. Fundamental research generally is performed in academe in parallel with more applied research in industry. Investigators are expected to integrate research objectives with educational and human resources goals and industry needs. The GOALI program also emphasizes improving industry-university research linkages in the design of products and processes. The research should strengthen the fundamental scientific and engineering foundations on which new design and production practices and methods may be based. This emphasis aims to improve basic understanding and the development of integrated design tools in both academe and industry. Persons interested in requesting funds under GOALI should contact an NSF Program Director in the Directorate in their area of interest for guidance on proposal submission. Refer to the GPG, Appendix A, (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/cpo/gpg) for a list of programs and telephone numbers. For additional current information you are encouraged to browse the Web sites of the appropriate directorate(s). The Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) (http://www.cise.nsf.gov/) offers opportunities in all areas usually supported by the directorate. "CISE Postdoctoral Research Associates in Computational Science and Engineering, and Associates in Experimental Science" (NSF 96-119). ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The Division for Information, Robotics and Intelligent Systems http://www.cise.nsf.gov/iris/ welcomes GOALI proposals submitted under the annual target dates of September 15 and February 15 (http://www.cise.nsf.gov/iris/targets.html). ----------------------------------------------------------------- INQUIRIES: Inquiries about proposal submission are welcomed, and should be addressed directly to the disciplinary NSF Program Director in the corresponding research/education area in each Directorate. Refer to the Grant Proposal Guide, NSF 95-27, Appendix A, (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/cpo/gpg) for a list of programs and telephone numbers. For generic comments on new mechanisms for GOALI write to T. Brady (tbrady@nsf.gov) in BIO, J. Cherniavsky in CISE (jchernia@nsf.gov), S. Ortega (sortega@nsf.gov) in EHR, D. Senich (dsenich@nsf.gov) in ENG, L.E. Johnson (lejohnso@nsf.gov) in GEO, H. Blount (hblount@nsf.gov) in MPS, and J.W. Dean, Jr. (jdean@nsf.gov) in SBE. For generic comments on NSF inter-directorate activities write to M.C. Roco (mroco@nsf.gov), Coordinator for the NSF GOALI initiative (NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230, Suite 525). FURTHER INFORMATION: NSF 97-116 GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACADEMIC LIAISON WITH INDUSTRY (GOALI) Initiative Announcement http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf97116 Hard copy of the announcement can be requested from . 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