Information Retrieval System for IIT’s Writing Center

1. Information Retrieval System for IIT’s Writing Center

2. Snapshot of existing WC administration • Forms are critical to administration – at least 4 are in use. • Monthly reports are generated by hand.

3. Challenges of existing administrative system • Excessive paper usage • Prospective errors in manual creation of reports • Reporting becomes superficial; difficult to establish student’s issues and improvement over time. • Duplication of forms exists as the writing center holds office hours in multiple locations. • No student history is maintained kept. Forms are discarded at the end of the semester.

4. Benefits of an IR System • Tracking students' visits to the writing center. • Reporting on the ways in which the writing center’s services are used and traffic patterns. • Reporting on students’ demographics and progress. • Booking, confirmation and cancellation of appointments online. • Sending of student visit confirmations to professors via email • Tracking of writing center staff hours

5. Existing Student Visit Form

6. Proposed IR Structure student (Root Element) studentid same first middle last major nativelanguage visit level graduate | undergraduate level_year visit_date Month Day Year tutor_name referred_by ref_first ref_last course_info course_code course_name required_visit purpose brainstorming research_strategies organization thesis_development content_development documentation grammar formatting other notes

7. XML and DTD Location • XML Document: http://halcyonlawrence.com/writingcenter.xml • DTD Document: http://halcyonlawrence.com/student.dtd