The scope of this volume will encompass a collection of research papers related to indexing and retrieval of online non-text information. In recent years, the Internet has seen an exponential increase in the number of documents placed online that are not in textual format. These documents appear in a variety of contexts, such as user-generated content sharing websites, social networking websites etc. and formats, including photographs, videos, recorded music, data visualizations etc. The prevalence of these contexts and data formats presents a particularly challenging task to information indexing and retrieval research due to many difficulties, such as assigning suitable semantic metadata, processing and extracting non-textual content automatically, and designing retrieval systems that "speak in the native language" of non-text documents.

The scope of this volume will encompass a collection of research papers related to indexing and retrieval of online non-text information. In recent years, the Internet has seen an exponential increase in the number of documents placed online that are not in textual format. These documents appear in a variety of contexts, such as user-generated content sharing websites, social networking websites etc. and formats, includingphotographs, videos, recorded music, data visualizations etc. The prevalence of these contexts and data formats presents a particularly challenging task to information indexing and retrieval research due to many difficulties, such as assigning suitable semantic metadata, processing and extracting non-textual content automatically, and designing retrieval systems that "speak in the native language" of non-text documents.

Class-tested and coherent, this textbook teaches classical and web information retrieval, including web search and the related areas of text classification and text clustering from basic concepts. It gives an up-to-date treatment of all aspects of the design and implementation of systems for gathering, indexing, and searching documents; methods for evaluating systems; and an introduction to the use of machine learning methods on text collections. All the important ideas are explained using examples and figures, making it perfect for introductory courses in information retrieval for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in computer science. Based on feedback from extensive classroom experience, the book has been carefully structured in order to make teaching more natural and effective. Slides and additional exercises (with solutions for lecturers) are also available through the book's supporting website to help course instructors prepare their lectures.

The Knowledge Seeker is a useful system to develop various intelligent applications such as ontology-based search engine, ontology-based text classification system, ontological agent system, and semantic web system etc. The Knowledge Seeker contains four different ontological components. First, it defines the knowledge representation model ¡V Ontology Graph. Second, an ontology learning process that based on chi-square statistics is proposed for automatic learning an Ontology Graph from texts for different domains. Third, it defines an ontology generation method that transforms the learning outcome to the Ontology Graph format for machine processing and also can be visualized for human validation. Fourth, it defines different ontological operations (such as similarity measurement and text classification) that can be carried out with the use of generated Ontology Graphs. The final goal of the KnowledgeSeeker system framework is that it can improve the traditional information system with higher efficiency. In particular, it can increase the accuracy of a text classification system, and also enhance the search intelligence in a search engine. This can be done by enhancing the system with machine processable ontology.

Asia Information Retrieval Symposium (AIRS) was established in 2004 by the Asian information retrieval community after the successful series of Information Retrieval with Asian Languages (IRAL) workshops held in six different locations in Asia, starting from 1996. The AIRS symposium aims to bring together international researchers and developers to exchange new ideas and the latest results in the field of information retrieval (IR). The scope of the symposium covers applications, systems, technologies and theoretical aspects of information retrieval in text, audio, image, video and multi-media data. We are very pleased to report that we saw a sharp and steady increase in the number of submissions and their qualities, compared with previous IRAL workshop series. We received 136 submissions from all over the world including Asia, North America, Europe, Australia, and even Africa, from which 32 papers (23%) were presented in oral sessions and 36 papers in poster sessions (26%). We also held a special session called “Digital Photo Albuming,” where 4 oral papers and 3 posters were presented. It was a great challenge and hard work for the program committee to select the best among the excellent papers. The high acceptance rates witness the success and stability of the AIRS series. All the papers and posters are included in this LNCS (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) proceedings volume, which is S- indexed. The technical program included two keynote talks by Prof. Walter Bender and Prof.

This book explores the analysis and interpretation, discovery and retrieval of a variety of non-textual objects, including image, music and moving image. Bringing together chapters written by leading experts in the field, this book provides an overview of the theoretical and academic aspects of digital cultural documentation and considers both technical and strategic issues relating to cultural heritage projects, digital asset management and sustainability. Managing Digital Cultural Objects: Analysis, discovery and retrieval draws from disciplines including information retrieval, library and information science (LIS), digital preservation, digital humanities, cultural theory, digital media studies and art history. It’s argued that this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach is both necessary and useful in the age of the ubiquitous and mobile Web. Key topics covered include: • Managing, searching and finding digital cultural objects • Data modelling for analysis, discovery and retrieval • Social media data as a historical source • Visual digital humanities • Digital preservation of audio content • Searching and creating affinities in web music collections • Film retrieval on the web. Readership: The book will provide inspiration for students seeking to develop creative and innovative research projects at Masters and PhD levels and will be essential reading for those studying digital cultural object management as well as practitioners in the field.

With coverage of the entire research process in social media, data collection and analysis on specific platforms, and innovative developments in the field, this handbook is the ultimate resource for those looking to tackle the challenges that come with doing research in this sphere.