Is Noesis Noetic and Why Does this Matter? Anthony F. Beavers, Ph.D. Philosophy / Cognitive Science The University of Evansville

What is Noesis? An “intentional” act of consciousness that is correlated with an object An “intentional” act of consciousness that is correlated with an object A limited area search engine dedicated to the discipline of philosophy A limited area search engine dedicated to the discipline of philosophy An encyclopedic library of reliable philosophical research designed according to the affordances of the Internet An encyclopedic library of reliable philosophical research designed according to the affordances of the Internet

What is Noesis? An “intentional” act of consciousness that is correlated with an object An “intentional” act of consciousness that is correlated with an object A limited area search engine dedicated to the discipline of philosophy A limited area search engine dedicated to the discipline of philosophy An encyclopedic library of reliable philosophical research designed according to the affordances of the Internet An encyclopedic library of reliable philosophical research designed according to the affordances of the Internet

… designed according to the affordances of the Internet Organic (regarding both topical scope and number of documents) Organic (regarding both topical scope and number of documents) Hypertextually related or relatable Hypertextually related or relatable Decentralized (regarding both data management and data storage) Decentralized (regarding both data management and data storage) Freely accessible Freely accessible

Interesting Problems Emergent organization and quality control Emergent organization and quality control Automatic and intelligent search space design for context-sensitive searching Automatic and intelligent search space design for context-sensitive searching Interactive visual interface construction to navigate large information stores Interactive visual interface construction to navigate large information stores Ethical prioritization of information to respect the topical needs of the user and the politics of the profession Ethical prioritization of information to respect the topical needs of the user and the politics of the profession

Interesting Problems Emergent organization and quality control Emergent organization and quality control Automatic and intelligent search space design for context-sensitive searching Automatic and intelligent search space design for context-sensitive searching Interactive visual interface construction to navigate large information stores Interactive visual interface construction to navigate large information stores Ethical prioritization of information to respect the topical needs of the user and the politics of the profession Ethical prioritization of information to respect the topical needs of the user and the politics of the profession

User Agendas Random Exploration (Why the Bear Went Over the Mountain) Random Exploration (Why the Bear Went Over the Mountain) ‘Ordered Bookshelf’ Browsing ‘Ordered Bookshelf’ Browsing Encyclopedic Discovery Encyclopedic Discovery Programmatic Research Discovery Programmatic Research Discovery Particular Resource Location Particular Resource Location

Some Solutions Limited Area Searching Limited Area Searching Dynamic Classification with an Organic Formal Taxonomy Dynamic Classification with an Organic Formal Taxonomy Document Comparison with a Recursive Artificial Network Document Comparison with a Recursive Artificial Network

Limited Area Searching Targets quality control issue and other issues connected to relevance Targets quality control issue and other issues connected to relevance Two-pronged approach divides task into 1) where to search and 2) what to search for Two-pronged approach divides task into 1) where to search and 2) what to search for Three models Three models Argos/Hippias – 1996 / 1997 Argos/Hippias – 1996 / 1997 Noesis 2.0 and earlier – 1998 Noesis 2.0 and earlier – 1998 Noesis 4.0 – 2006 Noesis 4.0 – 2006

The Argos/Hippias Model First ‘peer-reviewed’ search engine online First ‘peer-reviewed’ search engine online Used a set of ‘associate sites’ to determine search space Used a set of ‘associate sites’ to determine search space Searched the associate sites and everything to which they linked Searched the associate sites and everything to which they linked(more)

The Argos/Hippias Model Handed editorial control of content over to the editors of the associate sites Handed editorial control of content over to the editors of the associate sites Provided backbone for EAWC context- sensitive searching Provided backbone for EAWC context- sensitive searching

The Noesis 2.0 Model Based on Plato SE prototype Based on Plato SE prototype Database driven and hand-catalogued Database driven and hand-catalogued Editorial control managed by a team of content editors who manually checked author credentials Editorial control managed by a team of content editors who manually checked author credentials Topic tree formation developed by professional editors (dismal failure with important lessons) Topic tree formation developed by professional editors (dismal failure with important lessons)

The Noesis 4.0 Model Search space based on mapping the profession of philosophy online Search space based on mapping the profession of philosophy online Regions include associations, departments, faculty webspace, online journals and reference works Regions include associations, departments, faculty webspace, online journals and reference works(more)

The Noesis 4.0 Model “By indexing regions, in effect, directories and subdirectories, rather than their contents, Noesis passes editorial control of its search space over to the individuals who, in managing their own web resources, add to, edit, and delete from the content searchable by Noesis…. The result is that the shape and texture of Noesis's search space is determined organically by credentialed scholars whose actions directly determine content.” “By indexing regions, in effect, directories and subdirectories, rather than their contents, Noesis passes editorial control of its search space over to the individuals who, in managing their own web resources, add to, edit, and delete from the content searchable by Noesis…. The result is that the shape and texture of Noesis's search space is determined organically by credentialed scholars whose actions directly determine content.”

Dynamic Classification The Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO) The Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO) Targets the organizational issue by providing an emergent topic tree based on an analysis of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Targets the organizational issue by providing an emergent topic tree based on an analysis of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Artificial intelligence-based with feedback from human users Artificial intelligence-based with feedback from human users

Automated Search Space Design Based on a comparison of semantic features using a recursive artificial network Based on a comparison of semantic features using a recursive artificial network Still awaiting testing on large samples Still awaiting testing on large samples Will provide targeted context-sensitive hypertexuality Will provide targeted context-sensitive hypertexuality Will enable encyclopedic discovery by potentially linking every document in Noesis’ search space to every other relevant document Will enable encyclopedic discovery by potentially linking every document in Noesis’ search space to every other relevant document

Partial Bibliography Beavers, A. F Noesis: Philosophical research on-line: An experiment in progress. Newsletter on Philosophy and Computers. Beavers, A. F Evaluating search engine models for scholarly purposes: A report from the Internet Applications Laboratory. D-Lib Magazine. Niepert, M., Buckner, C., and Allen, C A dynamic ontology for a dynamic reference work. In Rasmussen, E. M., ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, JCDL 2007, Vancouver, BC, Canada, June 18-23, 2007, Proceedings, Suber, P Noesis: Is it a library with built-In searching or a search engine with a built-in library? Campus Technology.