Ray Larson
Professor

Current Research
My current research focuses on several related areas of information retrieval and digital libraries, including how to exploit XML structure and content in heterogeneous collections of XML documents, and how to use the evolving computational Grid for IR and digital library applications. I am also investigating ways to use the metadata infrastructure of ontologies (thesauri), electronic gazetteers, time period directories and biographical references to provide enhanced access to a variety of information resources and to generate dynamic portals to related information for a searcher's area of interest. In addition I am working on methods for effective geographic information retrieval (IR that uses a geographic dimension) in a multilingual environment.

Other Activities
I am one of the track coordinators for the GeoCLEF track of the Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF) and for the Heterogeneous Track of the Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval (INEX).

Education
B.A., English and Comparative Literature, California State University, Fullerton, 1976
M.S.L.S., Library Science, California State University, Fullerton, 1976
Certificate: Library Automation and Information Science, UC Berkeley, 1979
Ph.D., Library and Information Studies, UC Berkeley, 1986

What is the best thing about working at the I School?
Working with incredibly gifted and interesting students.

What Information issues interests you most?
How to integrate the vast resources of the "dark web" -- all of the databases that underlie the search pages on thousands or millions of web sites, and still make the results usable and comprehensible to users.

How to Reach Me
Office: 207B South Hall
Office Hours: On sabbatical: July 2007 - June 2008
Personal Website: http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~ray/
Email:
Voice: (510) 642-6046