Teaching IR: Curricular Considerations

Abstract

Information retrieval (IR) is nowadays accepted as an important topic in various disciplines. Information science, computer science, information systems, and library science are obvious candidates. But also in disciplines such as marketing, bioinformatics, or linguistics, IR topics are considered important and should be covered by respective curricula. For those who are teaching IR topics, this brings up serious questions: Which topics should be addressed in an IR course? Can one course serve the different target groups? What would be an appropriate set of IR courses to satisfy all potentially interested parties? In this chapter, we try to provide a landscape giving hints with respect to the topics relevant for the different target groups. In fact, a single IR course will hardly satisfy the needs of all target groups. A coordinated set of smaller IR courses where each group can select an appropriate subset might be a solution. Another important aspect is practical exercises. An IR course has to integrate such exercises, and a huge variety of available tools and frameworks are useful in this respect. This chapter will exemplarily consider some of these tools and discuss their use in IR courses.