Students

COMP3220 – Document Processing and the Semantic Web

2021 – Session 1, Special circumstances

Notice

As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.

To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Rolf Schwitter
rolf.schwitter@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
4 Research Park Drive; Office 359
By appointment
Diego Molla-Aliod
diego.molla-aliod@mq.edu.au
Contact via Email
4 Research Park Drive; Office 358
By appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above including COMP2110 or COMP249 or COMP2200 or COMP257
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This unit explores the issues involved in building natural language processing (NLP) applications that operate on large bodies of real text such as are found on the world wide web. In this unit we discuss some core methods and tools for dealing with data on the web; in particular machine learning platforms widely used in industry. The unit also explores some recent developments of the web, such as emerging semantic web technologies and the corresponding standards promoted by the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Application areas covered include web search, sentiment analysis, and information extraction.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://students.mq.edu.au/important-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO2: Describe the functionality of the key components in document processing architectures.
  • ULO1: Explain the main techniques that are used to develop and implement intelligent document processing applications.
  • ULO3: Implement text processing applications using a programming language.
  • ULO4: Apply web technology to document processing.

General Assessment Information

The assessment of this unit consists of three assignments and a final exam. You will submit the solutions to the three assignments via iLearn by the due date. The final examination is a closed book examination, and will be taken in person during the exam period.

Late Submission

No extensions will be granted without an approved application for Special Consideration. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission of the assignment is late. For example, 25 hours late in submission for an assignment worth 10 marks – 20% penalty or 2 marks deducted from the total.  No submission will be accepted after solutions have been posted.

Supplementary Exam

If you receive Special Consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled after the normal exam period, following the release of marks. By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available for a resit during the supplementary examination period and will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Assignment 1 5% No Week 3
Assignment 2 20% No Week 7
Assignment 3 15% No Week 12
Final Exam 60% No Examination period

Assignment 1

Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: Week 3
Weighting: 5%

 

In this assignment you will implement a simple document processing application that uses pre-packaged tools.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain the main techniques that are used to develop and implement intelligent document processing applications.
  • Implement text processing applications using a programming language.
  • Apply web technology to document processing.

Assignment 2

Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%

 

This assignment will use more powerful techniques such as those used in commercial and research applications. You will experience the processing of real text data, which can be messy and unpredictable at times. At the end of the assignment you will submit a report describing the system, its implementation, and its evaluation.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe the functionality of the key components in document processing architectures.
  • Explain the main techniques that are used to develop and implement intelligent document processing applications.
  • Implement text processing applications using a programming language.
  • Apply web technology to document processing.

Assignment 3

Assessment Type 1: Programming Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 15%

 

In this assignment you will experiment with the integration of Semantic Web technology into document processing. You will be asked to study a particular domain and report on the integration of Semantic Web technologies suitable for the domain, including what sort of SPARQL queries would be applicable to solve specific user needs.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe the functionality of the key components in document processing architectures.
  • Explain the main techniques that are used to develop and implement intelligent document processing applications.
  • Implement text processing applications using a programming language.
  • Apply web technology to document processing.

Final Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 3 hours
Due: Examination period
Weighting: 60%

 

The final exam will focus on the theoretical aspects of the unit. There will be few questions about implementation issues.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Describe the functionality of the key components in document processing architectures.
  • Explain the main techniques that are used to develop and implement intelligent document processing applications.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Learning Skills Unit for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Required and Recommended Texts

Most of the contents of the unit will be based on the following two books:

  • Steven Bird, Ewan Klein, Edward Loper. Natural Language Processing -- Analyzing Text with Python and the Natural Language Toolkit. Available online. 

  • F. Chollet (2017). Deep Learning with Python. Manning Publications. Available in the library.

Additional material will be made available during the semester, in conjunction with the lecture notes. See the unit schedule for a listing of the most relevant reading for each week.

Technology Used and Required

The following software is used in COMP3220:

  1. Anaconda for Python 3.8
  2. NLTK (bundled with Anaconda)
  3. Python SciKit-Learn (bundled with Anaconda)
  4. gensim (can be installed using Anaconda)
  5. spaCy (can be installed using Anaconda)
  6. Keras (can be installed using Anaconda)
  7. Tensorflow (can be installed using Anaconda)
  8. rdflib (can be installed using Anaconda)
  9. rdfizer (https://pypi.org/project/rdfizer/)
  10. Protégé (https://protege.stanford.edu/)
  11. Clingo (https://potassco.org/clingo/)

This software is installed in the labs; you should also ensure that you have working copies of all the above on your own machine. Note that many packages come in various versions; to avoid potential incompatibilities, you should install versions as close as possible to those used in the labs.

Unit Web Page

Note that the majority of the unit materials is publicly available while some material requires you to log in to iLearn to access it.

The unit will make extensive use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn. Please post questions there, they will be monitored by the staff on the unit.

Unit Schedule

 

 

Week Topic Reading

1

Python for Text Processing

NLTK Ch 1

2

Information Retrieval

Manning et al. (2008)

3

Text Classification 

NLTK Ch 6

4

Deep Learning for Text

Chollet, Ch. 2 & 3

5

Processing Text Sequences

Chollet, Ch. 6

6

Advanced Use of Deep Learning for Text

See lecture notes

 

Recess

7

Semantic Technologies

A Review of the Semantic Web Field

8

RDF, RDF Schema and SPARQL

RDF Primer

SPARQL

9

DBpedia and Wikidata

Wikipedia and DBpedia: a Comparative Study

10

Ontologies

OWL Primer

 

11

Rule Languages

Applications of Answer Set Programming

 

12

Recent Trends in Semantic Technologies

See lecture notes

13

Revision

  

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Enquiry Service

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Equity Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

In the past we offered 3 hours of lectures a week for COMP3220. The Faculty of Science and Engineering changes this to two hours per week. This required some re-structing and replacement of the teaching material. The most noticeable change is that we replaced a number of lectures about XML, XSLT and XML databases by a lecture and a workshop on Knowledge Graph construction.

Assessment Standards: COMP3220

COMP3220 will be assessed and graded according to the University assessment and grading policies.

The following general standards of achievement will be used to assess each of the assessment tasks with respect to the letter grades. 

Grade Range Description
HD 85-100 Provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality, insight or creativity in identifying, generating and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions and their implications; creativity in application as appropriate to the course/program.
D 75-84 Provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles and theories, distinctive insight and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is demonstration of frequent originality or creativity in defining and analysing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the course/program and the audience.
CR 65-74 Provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; convincing argumentation with appropriate coherent justification; communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the course/program.
P 50-64 Provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the course/program; routine argumentation with acceptable justification; communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the course/program. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
F 0-49 Does not provide evidence of attainment of learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; missing, undeveloped, inappropriate or confusing argumentation; incomplete, confusing or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the course/program.

Assessment Process

These assessment standards will be used to give a numeric mark to each assessment submission during marking. The mark will correspond to an appropriate letter grade when relevantly weighted. The final mark for the unit will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.