CRITIQUE ON THE USE OF WEB-BASED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

A Web search engine is a search engine designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. Information may consist of web pages, images and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in newsbooks, databases, or open directories. Unlike Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate algorithmically or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Using the World Wide Web or the Web for information retrieval has become the norm rather than the exception. With the availability of the internet and service providers, more and more people are relying on the Web for their information needs.

Though we know that information retrieval thru the Web is faster since they are readily available than the traditional way of retrieving information (thru library researches) the user still has the final decision on what source of information to use.

The choice of search engine to use is a decision that the user has to make since he will use whatever information that a particular search engine will show. A basic knowledge of the information need would help the user in choosing the best source of information.

CRITIQUE ON THE USE OF ONLINE AND DIGITAL MEDIA

An online database is a database accessible via a network, now generally the internet. It differs from a local database, held in an individual computer or its attached storage, such as a CD.

A CD-ROM (Compact Disc, read-only-memory) is an adaptation of the CD that is designed to store computer data in the form of text and graphics, as well as hi-fi stereo sound.

Use of the online database are now more popular than ever, with the widespread use of the internet, people are relying more and more to online databases for information that is accessible and updated.

Though the use of the online database is dependent on the need of the user, it is very important that a user determine the best database to use to be able to get the information that will be most useful to the user. Reliability of the online database must also be established so that information retrieval will be more definite.

CD ROMs are also good sources of information but due to the limited storage capacity of the disc, a user might have to use or view several CDs to be able to retrieve the best source of information. Also due to the high cost of CD ROMs, not everybody can afford to maintain an updated database on CD ROMs.

Personally, I would prefer using online databases, since they are readily available thru the internet, though some of them may not be free. Finding the right database that will fit one’s need is the most important aspect in information retrieval.

CRITIQUE ON THE JULY 16, 2008 FORUM

The Ortigas Center Library Consortium (OCLC) Inc. sponsored a forum on “Strategies in Effective Searching of Information” last July 16, 2008 conducted by Dr. Angelina P. Resurreccion of the Rizal Technological University.

It was a rainy Wednesday and I have to hurriedly leave the office at 12:30pm to be on time for the 1pm forum at JRU. It is my first forum in relation to the new course that I am taking, Library and Information Science. I was very excited, my expectations were high since this forum was recommended / required by Ma’am Sharon for her LIS 260 class to attend.

When I entered the venue I was grateful that the class of Ms. Sharon was seated near each other.

The forum started at 1:45pm with the usual opening remarks and the long introduction of the lecturer. Finally, Dr. Resurreccion started the forum. I was taking down notes since we were told to prepare a report on the forum and when the speaker noticed how hurriedly some of the audience was trying to write down all the points that she was making. She then said that her power point presentation is available in CD for P50.00. She went thru her power point presentation with out elaborating on some of the concepts that she was presenting.

I was seated beside Ron, and I asked her about some of the topics (like pathfinder and web harvesting) that were presented. Ron was able to give me a clearer idea of what was presented using layman’s term.

Dr. Resurreccion also mentioned that they started in their school the Information Literacy Program, but when one of the audience asked how can they access the effectiveness of the program, she was not able to give a concrete reply.

Overall, it was a rather disappointing forum. Maybe Ms. Sharon also felt this way because she changed her instruction to us to make a critique on the forum. Or maybe I was just expecting too much after being introduced to Web 2.0. Or maybe the topics discussed is not anymore new to me since I have encountered most of them in my reading assignments or it has been discussed though briefly in our class.