CMT209: Informatics

School Cardiff School of Computer Science and Informatics
Department Code COMSC
Module Code CMT209
External Subject Code I200
Number of Credits 20
Level L7
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Sylwia Polberg-Riener
Semester Spring Semester
Academic Year 2019/0

Outline Description of Module

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the fundamental concepts and techniques associated with informatics and its practical applications. We will focus on the generation, organisation and dissemination of information in the Web era, including the use of Semantic Web techniques and post-relational database management systems. The module will draw on the research strengths of the School and will include a number of in-depth case studies involving: geoinformatics, health informatics and bioinformatics.


 

On completion of the module a student should be able to

1. Describe and critically evaluate the various contemporary architectures and concepts supporting Informatics.
2. Understand the performance and limitations of salient algorithms associated with different aspects of informatics.
3. Be able to apply modern informatics techniques to a number of domains.
4. Discuss and evaluate examples of the research directions associated with this area.

How the module will be delivered

This module will be delivered through a combination of online readings and videos, face-to-face lectures, supervised lab sessions, example classes and tutorials, as appropriate. The module employs a combination of theoretical and practical interactive contact sessions, using a study guide, a selection of papers and case studies. It is anticipated that external speakers will also be invited to give the occasional lecture to the students.
 

Skills that will be practised and developed

Please see Learning Outcomes.

How the module will be assessed

Coursework: The coursework will allow the student to demonstrate their knowledge and practical skills and to apply the principles taught in lectures. (LO 1,3)
Exam: A written exam (2 h) will test the student's knowledge and understanding as elaborated under the learning outcomes. (LO 1,2, 4)

Students will be provided with reassessment opportunities in line with University regulations.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Exam - Spring Semester 50 Informatics 2
Written Assessment 50 Case Study In A Selected Application Domain N/A

Syllabus content

Fundamentals of semantic data modelling.
Semantic tagging.
Folksonomies.
Controlled vocabularies, taxonomies and ontologies.
Information management in the Web & cloud era.
Organising information: classification, clustering and linking.
Information retrieval.
Data and text mining.
Quality management.
Case studies, emphasising domain-specific informatics issues:
Geoinformatics.
Geo-spatial information characteristics and spatial data models; Spatial databases and spatial SQL; spatial database indexing methods.
Examples of Geographical Information System (GIS) applications and methods of spatial analysis.
Geo-information on the Web and geo-semantic web technologies.       
Health informatics: The design and implementation of healthcare information systems.
Bioinformatics: Theoretical and practical issues in the application of informatics to biology.
Business informatics: Introduction to design and management of complex information infrastructures in business organisations.
Future challenges in informatics.

Essential Reading and Resource List

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Background Reading and Resource List

This is a dynamic area, not effectively covered in textbooks. Therefore, to provide most relevant and up-to-date material, required, recommended and further reading will be made available as a set of web resources
Students will be encouraged to add their own. The reading material will be tagged around the following main categories:
Semantic data modeling.
Web approaches to data management.
Domain-specific resources supporting the case studies.

 


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