Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Finding Literature, Taking Notes, and Giving a Presentation Dr. Chris Staff October 2010

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Learning outcomes Using the literature to find literature Do you have to read all of every paper? Taking accurate notes Giving a presentation

References How to Avoid PlagiarismHow to Avoid Plagiarism, University of Malta, 2010 Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Finding Literature Every peer-reviewed publication has a list of references You can use this to find previously published relevant literature How can you find literature published later that refers to the paper of interest? Citeseerx, ACM, …Citeseerx

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Effective Reading 1 Tendency to feel that you have to read and understand all of a paper This is inefficient and frequently counter- productive The paper might not be relevant The finer details might be complex and take a long time to understand Even if the paper is relevant, the approach might not be

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Effective Reading 2 Read abstract: if not relevant, abandon Read Introduction and Conclusion: if not relevant abandon Read the literature review (helps to find more relevant literature – and remember, can use ACM/CiteseerX to find other papers that refer to some of the same literature) Read the approach, evaluation, and analysis of results

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Effective Reading 3 Read (and understand) the ‘implementation’ details only if you want to adopt a similar approach/extend the approach/refute the approach. This is usually the most time-consuming part of reading a paper – invest your time wisely!

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Taking Notes 1 Many approaches, I’ll cover two: “How to Avoid Plagiarism” My way If you already have developed an effective way of taking notes ensuring that you are able to properly keep track of your sources of information, apologies…

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Taking Notes 2 From “How to Avoid Plagiarism”How to Avoid Plagiarism

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Taking Notes 3 My way… Particularly useful if you’re reading with a view to writing a literature review, so you know why you’re reading Imagine that as you are reading, you’re trying to imagine an ‘ideal’ solution/system.

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Taking Notes 4 The reading that you’ll be doing is ideally all related to the same problem, or can at least contribute to possible solutions to sub-problems Build the system/approach on paper and see how each paper contributes to the problem description and solution

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Taking Notes 5 Usually a good idea to simultaneously make notes about approaches to evaluation From the literature, it should be obvious whether there is a standard approach to evaluation Evaluation usually not necessary for assignments, though testing is, but it’s good practice anyway

Difference between testing and evaluation Testing demonstrates that your solution produces the expected output given a range of inputs Evaluation supports the claims that you make about your system: It makes people’s lives better It is 10% faster than the next best solution People can find information faster… Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Example… Taking notes and turning them into a literature review

Giving a Presentation 1 The point of the presentation is to explain, in your allotted time: what problem you were attempting to solve; what other approaches have been taken to solve similar problems; how you designed and implemented your solution; your evaluation results (how good is your system at solving the problem); and your conclusions. Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 2 Do not assume your examiners know anything about the problem domain, or if you are making assumptions then say so. Include screen shots of your system working in the presentation, and use screen shots early in your talk so that your audience gets a feel for what you're talking about

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 3 Use a large font size - 30 points minimum is a good size. You can refer to hand-held cards or notes to remind you what you want to cover, but please don't just read off the notes.

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 4 Don't dump large amounts of text onto slides. Try to look at your audience when explaining the content of slides, and try to avoid giving your back to your audience.

Giving a Presentation 5 If you feel nervous, don't worry about it - it's natural. Just take a deep breath. Once you get into your stride you'll be fine. Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 6 Use diagrams and screen shots, not just text. BE ON TIME - if you're late, you will lose minutes from your presentation. If you miss your slot, you'll get a 0. DO NOT OVERRUN YOUR TIME - when you are asked to stop, please stop, otherwise you will lose additional marks.

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 7 Also do not finish too early - try to pace your talk to fill up the time available. Speak at a normal speed - it's not a race! Start with an introduction to the problem domain, and then give a quick overview of the structure of your talk.

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 8 Practice, practice, practice, but please remember Einstein's Theory of Relativity - time works differently under pressure (even on the same planet) :-) Have a working clock/stopwatch with you so that you can keep an eye on time - expand on points if you're going to fast, and skip things if you're going too slowly.

Giving a Presentation 9 When you are asked questions, take time to let the examiner finish the question, and listen to the question. Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta Giving a Presentation 11 If you are not sure that you understand what you've been asked, then say so (politely). It's also ok to begin to answer a question by saying "I think I've been asked xyz…" and give the examiner a chance to address any misunderstandings.

Giving a Presentation 12 If you don't know the answer to a question, don't try to bluff… examiners are pretty good at spotting stuff like that :-) It is ok to take a while to think about the answer to a question or to seek clarification. Examiners are there to try to get you to expose what you know about your topic. Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Conclusion We’ve seen what plagiarism is and how to avoid it We’ve looked at examples of plagiarism and identified why it’s plagiarised We’ve looked at strategies for finding relevant literature, and how to read papers efficiently We’ve looked at strategies for accurate note taking Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta

Conclusion We’ve seen how to turn notes into a literature review Finally, we’ve looked at pointers to remember when developing and giving a presentation Department of Intelligent Computer Systems University of Malta