2019-01-03: Five WS-DL Classes Offered for Spring 2019

"Both arXiv and archive.org are invaluable projects which, if they didn't exist, we would dismiss as obviously ridiculous and unworkable."

A record five WS-DL classes are offered for Spring 2019:

• CS 432/532 Web Science is taught by Alexander Nwala, Thursdays 4:20-7:00pm.  This class explores web phenomena with a variety of data science tools such as Python, R, D3, ML, and IR. 
• CS 725/825 Information Visualization is taught by Dr. Michele C. Weigle, Wednesdays 9:30am-12:15pm. This class will explore the background and tools needed to develop effective visualizations through analyzing existing visualizations and visualization problems.
• CS 734/834 Information Retrieval is taught by Dr. Jian Wu, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:30-10:45am.  This class will explore the theory and engineering of information retrieval in the context of developing web-based search engines.
• CS 795/895 Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is taught by Dr. Sampath Jayarathna, Tuesdays 4:20-7:00pm.  This class will explore the major cognitive and social phenomena surrounding human use of computers with the goal of understanding their impact and creating guidelines for the design and evaluation of software and physical products and services.
• CS 795/895 Web Archiving Forensics is taught by Dr. Michael L. Nelson, Wednesdays 4:20-7:00pm.  This explores the use of web archives for verifying the priority and authenticity of web pages, especially in the face of faulty and untrustworthy archives.

If you're interested in any of these classes you'll need to take them this semester since Fall 2019 will likely bring a completely different line up:

• CS 418/518 Web Programming, Dr. Jian Wu
• CS 431/531 Web Server Design, Sawood Alam
• CS/DASC 600 Introduction to Data Science, Dr. Sampath Jayarathna
• CS/DASC 625 Data Visualization, Dr. Michele C. Weigle

I will likely be on research leave (and thus not teaching) in Fall 2019.

--Michael

2017-08-27: Four WS-DL Classes Offered for Fall 2017

An unprecedented four Web Science & Digital Library (WS-DL) courses will be offered in Fall 2017:

•  CS 418/518 "Web Programming", Tuesdays 4:20-7:00 pm (CRNs 14356 & 14357), will be offered by Dr. Justin F. Brunelle.  This will be an updated version of CS 418/518 last taught in Fall 2016 by Dr. Brunelle. 
• CS 734/834 "Introduction to Information Retrieval", Thursdays 4:20-7:00 pm (CRNs 13631 & 13639) offered by Dr. Michael L. Nelson.  This will be an updated version of the same course most recently taught in Fall 2016.  
• CS 725/825 "Information Visualization", Fridays 8:30-11 am (CRNs 19344 & 19345) offered by Dr. Michele C. Weigle.  This will be an updated version of the same course most recently taught in Spring 2017. 
• CS 791/891 "Web Archiving Seminar", Wednesdays 2:00-4:30 pm (CRNs 21302 & 21303) offered by Drs. Nelson & Weigle.  This is a new seminar for incoming and prospective WS-DL students where we will cover a variety of web archiving topics and research methodology and tools.  Permission from the instructors is required to register for this class. 

Finally, although they are not WS-DL courses per se, WS-DL member Corren McCoy is also teaching CS 462 Cybersecurity Fundamentals again this semester, and WS-DL alumnus Dr. Charles Cartledge is teaching CS 395 "Data Analysis Bootcamp".

I'm especially proud of this semester's breadth of course offerings and the participation by two alumni and one current WS-DL member.

--Michael

2016-08-25: Two WS-DL Classes Offered for Fall 2016

Two Web Science & Digital Library (WS-DL) courses will be offered in Fall 2016:

•  CS 418/518 "Web Programming", Tuesdays 4:20-7:00 pm (CRNs 16680 & 16681), will be offered by Dr. Justin F. Brunelle.  This will be an updated version of CS 418 last taught in Spring 2015 by Mat Kelly.  This class is currently full, but watch for openings.
• CS 734/834 "Introduction to Information Retrieval", Thursdays 4:20-7:00 pm (CRNs 15028 & 15038) offered by Dr. Michael L. Nelson.  This will be an updated version of the same course most recently taught in Fall 2015. 

Note that Dr. Michele Weigle is not teaching this semester.  Obviously there is demand for CS 418/518, but if you're considering CS 734/834 you might be interested in this student's quote from a recent exit exam:

[and] Dr. Nelson’s Information Retrieval course are the two which I feel have prepared me most for job interviews and work in the working world of computer science.

We're not yet sure what WS-DL courses will be offered in Spring 2017, so take advantage of these offerings in the Fall.

--Michael

2015-08-18: Three WS-DL Classes Offered for Fall 2015

The Web Science and Digital Libraries Group is offering three classes this fall.  Unfortunately there are no undergraduate offerings this semester, but there are three graduate classes covering the full WS-DL spectrum:

• CS 695 - NoSQL Databases (CRN 21159) will be offered by Dr. Cartledge.  While we've used NoSQL databases in a variety of classes in the past, this is the first time we've offered a class entirely on this topic.  This is a good complement to the CS 495/595 Big Data class he offered last spring.   
• CS 734/834 - Introduction to Information Retrieval (CRNs 19986 & 20004) will be offered by Dr. Nelson.  Although the number and name have slightly changed, this will be similar to previous offerings of this class (e.g., see CS 895 spring 2014).   This class will broadly cover the foundations of information retrieval.  
• CS 791/891 - Visualization Seminar (CRNs 12619 & 12620)will be taught by Dr. Weigle.  This P/F course will cover the fundamentals of how to apply visualization techniques to your research interests.  You will learn to avoid pie charts and instead embrace Minard-like visualizations such as the above XKCD image. 

Note that while 891 classes count toward the 24 hours of 800-level class work for the PhD program, they do not count as one of the "four 800-level regular courses" required.  Students looking to satisfy one of the 800-level regular courses should consider CS 834.  Students considering doing research in the broad areas of Web Science should consider taking all three of these classes this semester.

--Michael