LIBR 246-06
LIBR 246-15
Information Technology Tools and Applications – Advanced Topic: Text, Data, & Web Mining for LIS
Fall 2011 Greensheet

Dr. Geoffrey Z. Liu
E-mail
Phone: (408) 924-2467
Office Location: Clark Hall 418L, SJSU Campus
Office Hours: Email & by appointment

Textbooks and Software | Course Requirements

D2L Information: Class activities will be carried out in both the D2L and Elluminate systems. Students will be automatically enrolled into the D2L class based on MySJSU registration, therefore they do not need to manually enroll themselves. The D2L class will become available no earlier than one week prior the first day of instruction.

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the emerging field of text/data/web mining from the practical perspective of library and information services. Emphasis is on basic theoretical concepts, major approaches/techniques, process of mining, and use of software tools. Text mining, data mining, and web (use and content) mining are covered as parellel tracks. Students may choose to focus on one area (i.e., the mining of either texts, data, or web use/transaction logs), by conducting topical research in groups and completing one mining exercise individually.

The main objective is to learn necessary skills of using exisitng text/data mining software tools to extract information and knowledge for improving information services and developing intelligence.

Course Prerequisites: LIBR 202 required; LIBR 242 recommended.

Course Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students will understand key concepts and terminologies in the field of text/data/web mining;
• Students will be able to describe major approaches and techniques of text/data/web mining;
• Students will be able to discuss the roles of text/data/web mining in intelligence/knowledge discovery;
• Students will be able to use a software tool to accomplish a reasonably sophisticated text/data/web mining task;
• Students will be able to integrate, summarize, and report the findings of mining research;

LIBR 246 supports the following MLIS Core Competencies:

• demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
• understand the system of standards and methods used to control and create in formation structures and apply basic principles involved in the organization and representation of knowledge.

Top of Page

Course Requirements

Evaluation
Students' performance in this class will be evaluated on the basis of the following assignments,

• One group project of topical research 40% (written report 30%, presentation 10%)
• One mining exercise (text, data, or transaction log by choice) 35%
• Four reading summares (or textbook chapters and/or journal articles, to be posted in disucssion forums) (5% each)
• Participation 5%

All written work should be professionally prepared following the APA editorial style and established convention of academic writing, free of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

Late work will not be accepted unless the student has previously made arrangement with the instructor or has a legitimate reason with proper documentation in the case of unexpected urgent situation. PLEASE NOTE that it is the students' responsibility to submit and maintain the electronic version of their works until the final grades are issued.

Course Grading
Students' work will be evaluated according to the following specific criteria. (For the term paper, see specific instruction for information on how term papers are to be graded.)

• Basic content as required (70%);
• Originality and creativity (10%);
• Clarity of description (10%);
• Writing/presentation (10%).

Letter grades may be assigned to assignments and exercises and later converted to points.

At the end of a semester, all of the points earned by a student are added up proportionally according to the ratios specified in the course syllabus. The total of points is rounded up to integer and then converted to a letter grade using the following table. The resulting letter grade is the final grade for the class.

Textbooks and Software

Required Software

• SPSS (PASW Statistics 18 for Windows, to be provided by SLIS with license for student home installation)
• Microsoft Excel (version 2009 or later, included in Microsoft Office)
• CALAIS (Web-based application for text analysis/tagging, free access with registration)
• Weka (open source text mining software for Windows/Mac/UNIX, free to dowload/use)

Required Textbooks:

• Markov, Z., & Larose, D. (2007). Data mining the web: Uncovering patterns in web content, structure, and usage. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Available through Amazon: 0471666556

• Zanasi, A. (2007). Text Mining and Its Applications to Intelligence, CRM and Knowledge Management. WIT Press. Available through Amazon: 1845641310

Recommended Textbooks:

• Han, J., & Kamber, M. (2005). Data mining: Concepts and techniques (2nd ed.). Morgan Kaufmann. Available through Amazon: 1558609016

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.