CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information which must be consulted, akin to other techniques for managing information overload. Search engines provide an interface to a group of items that enables users to specify criteria about an item of interest and have the engine find the matching items.
It is safe to say that most activities such as storing of research material carried out in most universities in Nigeria are done manually. Therefore, there is a lot of strain on the individuals running the research library. A research search system is simply software developed for retrieving of research material without going through the stress of moving from one shelf to another in the research library. These activities takes place in the library with the help of a library administrator. The goal of this research work is to provide a solution to the problem of a research library, by designing a computerized system which is user-friendly and GUI-oriented that will be compatible with the existing manual systems. The software to be developed will solve the problem of sorting and retrieving of research materials.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Prior to this period most Students projects are store in the Archive Room, this project are then sorted out depending on the area of research, In time this work is sorted by student who are looking for a project topic. The order in which these files are kept after used can lead to a project hidden in the wrong compartment. Problems associated with research system when manually handled by library staff in most University include: ·
- Research/Projects are sorted and stored manually on its appropriate shelf ·
- Retrieving of research/projects material takes a lot of time depending of the number of topics involves.
- Loss or damage of any of the research material may leads to loss of a resources information ·
- Too cumbersome and time consuming to maintain.
1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The aim of the study is to design and implement a student research search engine. The objective of this study is to develop an application that will ease the stress associated with the existing manual system as earlier stated, while focusing on a research search system. This study aims to achieve the following;
- To create a database management system (DBMS) which store research material and provides security for the stored data.
- To provide quick and efficient means retrieving student research/projects material through a search system
- At the completion of this work, this system will improve the management of a research library which can be uses as a model in building digital research library.
1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to realize the objectives of this research, it is important to apply adequate strategy in achieving the set goals. The methodology employed in the course of this study is to first outline the set of requirements to be met by the proposed system, where information related to the research work will be derive from the area of study; then envisage and implement the design of the system, using PHP scripting language, along the lines of an object-oriented approach.
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This research topic is just a part of a research engine system, it is not a research engine system in a broader sense (such as Google); hence it is being limited to registration module for users (students) to have access to available research materials and the search module for users to search for research topics or materials.
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Search: An attempt to find, seek, look thoroughly, probe or examine something
System: A collection of different entities working together to function as one
Algorithm: The step by step methods and procedures that must be followed to achieve a goal.
Database: A collection of organized information in a regular structure usually but not necessarily in a machine readable format accessible by a computer.
Knowledge Base: A database designed to need the complex storage and retrieval requirements of computerized knowledge management, especially in support of artificial intelligence or expert systems.
Search Engine: An application that searches for, and retrieved, data based on some criteria, especially one that searches the internet for documents containing specified words.
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