Competency E

Design, query, and evaluate information retrieval systems.

A missionary walked through a jungle and he got lost with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally managed to arrived at a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out of the jungle. The native said he could. "All right," the missionary said, "Show me the way." They walked for hours through dense brush hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said. "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path."
Unknown

It is true that when we want to travel from point A to point B we need to know the way. Without a fair knowledge of direction, we can get lost easily. This simple thought is applicable in many areas of life. For example, when a person wants to bake, he/she needs to know where to find the ingredients, how to mix them and how long the baking time should be. At least he/she knows this much information in order to make good cookies. When a teacher teaches math, he/she needs to explain the problem step by step so that his/her students can understand it. The same is true with information. There are numerous information available to us online and in library, but we cannot get them if we do not know how to find them. For this reason, an efficient retrieval system should be established to help information seekers to find the desirable materials at the shortest time possible. For librarians and information professionals to establish any retrieval system, it is necessary to understand some basic principles of designing, querying, and evaluating.

To design any database, it is important to determine what format the database should be, whether it is a catalog, index, pathfinder, or any searching tool. This database should be large enough to accommodate all data entered, and it should also be expected to grow beyond the current collection. After the database is designed and formatted, the next step is to store the data systematically and structurally. With each data entered, there must be a certain way to label it. It can be labeled as simple as numerically or alphabetically. The collection can also be classified according to different categories. This technique would help to narrow down the information and make the search easier and faster. It also offers users options to search for the desirable materials. After the collection is successfully stored and available to retrieve, the system needs to be assessed and evaluated. Certain basic criteria that librarians and information professionals should look into before they make it available to the users are simplicity and accuracy. The following questions are recommended: Is it simple enough for an average citizen to search? If it is too complicated, then it fails to serve. The system then needs to be refined. When a search is conducted, does the system provide correct information? If it is not, then the method of labeling or classifying needs to be reviewed and repaired.

In this age and time, when the demands of time are high, it is important for librarians and information professionals to create flawless retrieval system to help patrons to minimize the searching time. Because not all librarians are trained in this areas, they need to expand their skills and knowledge by learning from one another and from the experts. The more they learn, the better they serve their community.

In relation to this competency, I had the opportunities to put my knowledge into practice both in coursework and in real life experience. In LIBR 202-14 course, the Information Retrieval, I was taught how to classify items scientifically. The assignment, Classification Schemes , trained me how to explore the process of developing classification schemes for information retrieval. The nature of this assignment was to arrange the physical placement of information packages and include a notation system to indicate order. To proceed in this assignment, our group chose 20 different food items and labeled them systematically. The items were then grouped into different categories according to their natures like drinks, meats, pastries, fruits and vegetables. Each food item was then entered into a database which is called a refrigerator with notation of its calories. The purpose was to help athletes to consume 3000 calories per day. They could choose whatever food they liked as long as the total calories intake did not exceed 3000. The assignment was very fascinating. The lesson that I learned from it was, with the advent of computerized information technologies and the Internet, classification schemes have become less concerned with physical placement of tangible objects, and more concerned with classification for retrieval.

Another assignment that I also did for LIBR 202-14 course is Database Evaluation. To do this assignment, we were grouped together in team of five to evaluate other group's database by assessing how well their database functioned, how clear their notation was, how well the instruction was written, what their major flaws were, and how fitting it was for the intended users. The interesting about this assignment was that I initially wondered, "How should I evaluate? What do I know? How can I tell what is right and what is wrong?" However, when my classmates and I worked together, we really got some thoughtful evaluations. Some of our comments were: "The database functions well, although it feels cumbersome because of the amount of mandatory fields and the amount of non-mandatory fields; It was fairly clear, although it would have probably been much easier to navigate with fewer fields; We like the premise of this database. It seems to work so that no one inadvertently eats other co-worker's food. Although, the list can be simplified by lowering number of fields or clarifying field definitions." The assignment was a great learning experience, and I certainly began my evaluating skill from it.

From this knowledge of designing, querying and evaluating information retrieval system, few years ago I ventured to help my friend who is a publisher of a bilingual missalette titled, The Word of the Lord. Every month, he distributed to almost 4000 subscribers. Because of limited knowledge in computer and information retrieval system, he listed his subscribers in a conventional way by adding new customers to the bottom of the list. For years, he struggled to read the list every time his customers called in to inquire about their payment. To help him retrieving information from each subscriber scientifically, I used Microsoft Access to create a database of 4000 subscribers with their names, addresses, phone numbers, date of order, date of expiration, check number, notation of payment and debts. With this database, he only needed to enter either one of those categories, and he would have the whole record of the person. Now searching for each subscriber is very easy and fast. Not only my friend is very happy with this database, but I am also very happy because I was able to utilize my knowledge in a real life experience.

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