Search for the Enterprise: Creating Findability Jean Bedord Findability and Search Consulting EContent Strategies Gilbane Conference San Francisco June 18-20, 2008
In the Beginning Research reports at Lockheed - 40 years ago First search service, Dialog Information Services
Same Problem More content, more data, more digital assets…….
Findability is Answers Not so easy….. Digital content needs metadata
Metadata Varies by Asset… Books - Cataloging Authors Name Title of the Book ISBN, etc. Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal number Subject Descriptors
Periodical Databases Publications Title of article Authors Name Publication Name, ISSN Publication date Abstract / Full Text Subject Indexing
Collection Standardization ??? Music –Cataloging Title of work Lyric writer Song writer Performer Instrument Categorization of musical style
Visual Images / Video Pictures – Archives / Flickr /YouTube Subject Title of the Work Photographer Location & Date User Generated Tags Generally poor search implementation Rights to use / remix
Corporate Assets Intellectual Property Patents Engineering drawings Manufacturing processes Customer Information Purchasing History Agreements Product Information
Vocabulary Mismatch Missing Metadata Categorization by domain EXPERT The Problem: Provide answers for non- specialist
Missing Metadata Full text indexing and search is default Adding subject terms not obvious Microsoft Office Adobe Ideal – add standard descriptive terms as part of work flow
The Synonym Problem Different words Different languages Different contexts Order of words Failed searches
Intent ???? Choosing search terms Expert vs. non-expert Native language Regional dialects Academic training Industry / Technology Generation
Vocabularies – Key to Metadata Folksonomies No consistency, limited Controlled vocabularies Better consistency Lack relationships Taxonomy / thesaurus / ontology Relationships Key is flexibility with multiple related terms
Multiple Search Engines Enterprises – 4 to 5 search software vendors Departmental solutions Ideal – same metadata structure Workable – shared core of descriptors
WAND INC. Case Study Product and Service Taxonomies Uses numeric codes for preferred terms, i.e is Agricultural Equipment Synonyms, related terms, broader terms Terms translated into 11 languages Harmonized with SIC, NAICS, Harmonized Codes and Yellow Page headings Over 82,000 terms with 1.3M associated attributes covering multiple industries
WAND Current Applications Insurance Adjustors – Replacement of Consumer Electronics Intellectual / Business Assets for Sale & Licensing Yellow Pages Vertical Business Directories
Yellow Page Business Model Businesses pay to be included Need high consumer web traffic Approximately 50% search failure rate Failed searches problematic Buyer frustration Advertiser loses value
Search Problems Plurals – similar results book / books Spacing – very different results video conferencing / videoconferencing text books / textbooks Morphological variations - varies wedding planning catering /wedding planning caterer
Search Synonym Problem Attorneys / lawyers / law firm slr / single lens reflex Cellular phones /cell phone / cellulars / mobiles Geographic Information Systems / GIS Global Positioning Systems / GPS Recreational vehicles / RVs Results varied greatly between synonyms
Takeaways Metadata varies by asset Synonyms are a major cause of search failure Expert vs. non-expert Alternate terms Vocabularies needed to improve findability!!!
More on Findability…… Contact Jean Bedord Questions ?????