This course reviews important information retrieval (IR) theories and models; explores a brief history of IR research; and examines various IR applications. Students will get familiar with IR foundations such as document indexing or query expansion/optimization strategies, as well as understand overall system architectures for selected IR applications. Students will explore how to analyze and compare IR systems, how to select the best IR systems for particular tasks and how to design a prototype for an efficient IR system. Prereq or concur: LIS 636 or LIS 637 or LIS 638. Counts as part of Library Science foundational requirement for students who matriculated between Spring 2014 and Spring 2017. Offered Summer and Spring.