Newsletter No. 191
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FreePint
"Helping 74,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 29th September 2005 No.191
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
By William Hann
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Penny Crossland
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Library & Information Executive
Senior Information & Records Officer
Junior Business Analyst / Researcher
TIPS ARTICLE
"Mentoring Independent Information Professionals - A Case Study"
By Amelia Kassel
BOOKSHELF
"The New Information Professional: How to thrive in the
Information Age doing what you love"
Reviewed by Lisa Anderson
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Specifying and Implementing Enterprise Search"
By Martin White
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.pdf>
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**DISCOVER THE ULTIMATE FINDING TOOL FOR EUROPEAN INFORMATION**
European Sources Online is a unique online service offering quick and
easy access to the broadest range of information sources focusing on
issues affecting the European Union and the wider Europe. ESO offers
expert selection and detailed manual indexing of over 300 sources from
across Europe and around the world. Access to a large range of
specialised, hard-to-find sources. For your free trial visit:
<http://www.europeansources.info>
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"Enterprise Search Guidebook"
ISBN 1-904769-10-1 - September 2005
This report sets out the principles and practice of specifying
and selecting intranet or enterprise search software.
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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*** ABOUT FREEPINT ***
FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members
receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is packed with tips
on finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs and events, with
answers to research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar.
Please circulate this newsletter, which is best read when printed out.
To receive a fully formatted version as an attachment or a brief
notification when it's online, visit <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
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EDITORIAL
By William Hann
As we reach the half-way point with the rebuilding of our offices
<http://www.StationApproach.com/>, I find myself being asked to make
decisions about things of which I have no experience.
What colour paint for the exterior? How should we arrange the toilets
to take into account Building Regulations Part M for ambulant disabled
people? Understand Part J when rebuilding the chimney and, of course,
Part P for the electrics? What about anchor points for the window
cleaner's harness, inside and out?
To make me feel better, the builders have given me a new mantra:
"First one, worst one". The first time you do anything new is going to
be the hardest. They've also expanded my vocabulary, with new words
like baluster, corbel, noggin, newel-post, nosing, purlin, screed,
soffit and trimmer. I'm on the same learning curve as my four-year-old
son who's just started school and my seven-year-old daughter who had
her first piano lesson yesterday.
Of course, 'learning' is what FreePint is all about, and today we're
publishing the 'Enterprise Search Guidebook'. Martin White has
produced an excellent in-depth guide to enterprise search solutions
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>, and gives us a sample in
today's Feature Article.
We've been learning what Willco and VIP customers like too, with the
completion of our first ever subscriber surveys. As a result, we've
re-written the Willco site and added the Willco News Module
<http://www.Willco.com/>. The business-information analysis newsletter
VIP Eye will be enhanced too from next month, with a change from text
to HTML format <http://www.vivaVIP.com/>.
We've also been learning about the best information vendors through
the nominations we've received so far for the 'Online Information /
FreePint Award for Best Customer Service Team'
<http://www.freepint.com/events/online-info-2005/>. Voting closes next
week, so vote today and add your citation to the broad selection of
organisations already nominated. The award will be presented at the
annual gala awards dinner at Online Information here in London in
November at which we're exhibiting as usual. Free tickets for the
exhibition are available at <http://www.online-information.co.uk/>.
Learning is a continuous process, and we're learning a lot at the
moment, but we're never too saturated to learn more. So please make
use of the 'Suggestion Box' to post your anonymous comments and
suggestions about FreePint:
<http://www.freepint.com/suggestionbox.htm>
Learning new things is exhilarating and challenging. If it gets too
tricky then just remember the builder's mantra: "First one, worst
one". It is certainly helping to remind me of the bigger picture.
William Hann
Managing Editor and Founder, FreePint
e: william.hann@freepint.com
t: 0870 141 7474
i: +44 870 141 7474
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2005
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NEW from Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing
ORIANA
Public and private financial company information
for the Asia-Pacific region
To register for a FREE trial click on
<http://www.bvdep.com/ORIANA.html>
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*** Just a few days left: nominate an information vendor today ***
This is your last chance to reward excellence by nominating
the online information vendor who, in your opinion, has
provided you with outstanding customer service.
Cast your vote for this year's "Online Information /
FreePint Award for Best Customer Service Team":
<http://www.freepint.com/events/online-info-2005/>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Penny Crossland
* The Wise Marketer <http://www.thewisemarketer.com/> - news, analysis
and resources on all aspects concerning customer loyalty. Free
weekly e-mail news service after registration.
* DoubleClick <http://www.doubleclick.com/> - quarterly trend reports
on online advertising and e-mail marketing for the UK, US and
Asia-Pacific markets.
* Clickz Network <http://www.clickz.com/> - white papers, news and
statistics on all aspects of internet usage by industry sector,
demographics and geography.
* CRM Guru <http://www.crmguru.com/> - a portal with news, event
information and white papers on issues dealing with customer
relationship management.
* CIA Factbook <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/>
- Comprehensive facts on every country in the world, including
history, current political situation, economics, geography,
demographics, trade statistics and conflicts.
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Penny Crossland started her business research consultancy in 2001
<http://www.chbusinessresearch.co.uk/> and for the last year has
also worked with the Institute of Direct Marketing, assisting in the
provision of marketing information to its members.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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*** Factiva Keeps Your Skills Sharp ***
With Factiva's monthly newsletter, "InfoPro Intelligence", you get the
latest search tips, research tools and new sources. Register today
for the resources you need to stay up-to-date.
<http://www.factiva.com/ad/freepint0908>
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*** VIP focuses on US and Scotland ***
The latest issue of VIP features an in-depth review of Hemscott's
CoreReference product which provides financial and executive data on
10,000 active public companies trading in the US. A second review
examines the Member's Area of SCOTBIS, the national business portal
for Scotland.
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/>
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FREEPINT BAR
<http://www.freepint.com/bar>
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
It has been three weeks since my last Bar Summary and if I were to
include the majority of new threads since then, it would be a very
long one indeed. Technical problems seem to be rife at the moment,
especially with Microsoft Outlook <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33727>.
One of the solutions suggested is to replace Outlook with a different
email program <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33913>. What do you think?
Do you know of any free software that does link-checking
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33962> or evaluates different patent
analysis software? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33680>. How about a
weekly news alert that provides foreign language newspaper articles
already translated? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33702>.
Perhaps you can help to find any of the following information: The
number of children hurt or injured each year around the home or garden
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33796>; living costs in Limerick, Ireland
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33961>; a list of housing associations
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33915>; or a full list of tractor models
produced by different manufacturers
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33816>.
Do you know of any half or one day courses on enquiry-handling
skills for information officers? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33904>.
This FreePinter is looking to recruit a Research Analyst but wants to
know if there are any tests he can give them to see if they can order
and analyse information <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33686>.
Is there a source that lists companies according to the value of sales
they make over the Internet? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33794>. What
about the numbers of employees working in multinational companies?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33713>.
You can view all of the postings made at the FreePint Bar in the Bar
Browser, which makes it easier to browse by category rather than by
date <http://web.freepint.com/forum/bar/browser/>.
Thanks to everyone who has posted.
Until next time.
Penny Hann <penny.hann@freepint.com>
FreePint
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The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky
research questions <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested
at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
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*** VIP compares prospectus databases ***
The September issue of VIP reviews and compares two of the best known
prospectus databases - prospectus+ from Europrospectus and Perfect
Information's Perfect DEBT. October's issue will review LexisNexis'
new platform together with CI-Newsdesk from Moreover.
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/>
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*** In-depth information management reports from FreePint ***
Topics include: Enterprise Search; Google's Strategy; Freedom of
Information; Information Auditing; Publishing eNewsletters;
Acquiring Skills; Info-Entrepreneur Marketing
Read about the full range of reports from FreePint at:
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
Would you like to write a report?
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>
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JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
<http://www.jinfo.com/>
The Jinfo service enables you to search for and advertise
information-related job vacancies.
The Jinfo Newsletter is published free every two weeks, and contains a
list of the latest vacancies along with job seeking advice. The latest
editorial is entitled "Accentuate the positive - tips for handling
rejection".
To read the latest Jinfo Newsletter and to subscribe to receive it
twice-monthly by email, visit <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Library & Information Executive
Four month project to integrate three small library collections,
develop an index and do an information audit of staff needs.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.jinfo.com/go/j4414>
Senior Information & Records Officer
Cumbria County Council's Information & Communications Team is
looking to recruit a full-time Senior Information & Records Officer.
Recruiter: Cumbria County Council - Strategy & Performance
<http://www.jinfo.com/go/j4436>
Junior Business Analyst / Researcher
Entrepreneurial Researcher with potential and business acumen?
Exc. opportunity with prospects for exceptionally bright person.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.jinfo.com/go/j4446>
NB: There are 43 other jobs in the current edition of the Jinfo
Newsletter <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/> and over 100 in the
Jinfo database <http://www.jinfo.com/>.
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
* JOB SEARCHING -- Free search and sign up to the Jinfo Newsletter.
* RECRUITING -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy for
only GBP195 <http://www.jinfo.com/recruit/>.
50% discount for registered charities and universities.
10% discount for agencies.
Find out more today at <http://www.jinfo.com/>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.htm#tips>
"Mentoring Independent Information Professionals - A Case Study"
By Amelia Kassel
Background
----------
In a recent FreePint Bar discussion, a poster asked where he could
find a mentor to learn more about the information industry
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33018>. Suggestions from FreePint members
included organizations such as SLA Europe <http://www.sla-europe.org>,
and a recommendation to join the City Information Group as an
"excellent organisation to keep up to date about what is happening in
the industry and to network with experienced people who are always
happy to offer advice <http://www.cityinformation.org.uk/>".
In the U.S., both the American Library Association, see for example,
<http://www.ala.org/ala/iro/iroactivities/intlmentor.htm>, and SLA's
various divisions offer mentoring programs for librarians and
information professionals. A new division of SLA, the Competitive
Intelligence Division <http://www.sla.org/division/dci/cihome.htm>,
is in the early stages of formulating its mentoring program. AIIP
<http://www.aiip.org/AboutAIIP/aiipmentor.html>, also suggested in
the FreePint Bar discussion, matches experienced members with newer
members who would like some advice and support in growing independent
information businesses.
According to the American Library Association, "a mentor is an
experienced person who provides guidance and support to a developing
professional." (Adapted from Bolton's definition of a Mentor, 1980).
Mentees are "proteges" and benefits include receiving support and
guidance to help in developing confidence
<http://www.ala.org/ala/nmrtbucket/nmrtmentguide/nmrtmentoring.htm>.
In addition to mentoring programs from industry and professional
associations, I began mentoring about online research using fee-based
database systems, specifically Dialog <http://www.dialog.com>, in
1994. I had started a business in 1982, specializing in online
research across many industries. As my business grew, I was asked to
participate in a variety of panels. A presentation about alternative
careers for librarians led to an invitation to develop several two-day
courses at the University of California, including one about online
research, another about business research, and a third about how to
market an information business similar to mine.
One day a student attending the online research class told me she
needed more training to fully master the material and wanted me to
mentor her privately. Because we lived a couple of hours driving
distance apart, we agreed to telephone mentoring. Early on, I
encouraged my new mentee to use email as a way to save on expensive
telephone calls. Moreover, email is an excellent medium for
communicating written materials and responding to questions, allowing
students to keep answers to refer to at a later time.
The Mentor Program Takes Shape
------------------------------
Working with one student was a turning point. I had developed a
course about "Information Brokering," and taught at a California
graduate school of library and information science. In 1993, a company
offering home-based business opportunities commissioned me to write a
manual about information brokering. Although they retained copyright,
I negotiated use for my own students. The company also engaged me to
consult for those who purchased the manual. With experience in
developing curriculum and teaching at the graduate level, and having
produced a written manual and consulting about the field, I launched
the Mentor Program for new information brokers. The idea of calling
the formal program "The Mentor Program" seemed fitting based on my
vision of what I wanted to do. A mentor is a "wise and trusted guide
and advisor" and that is exactly what I wanted to be to mentees.
Interest in the program came from all walks of life including those
with graduate degrees in library science wanting to embark on
independent research careers, folks that were looking for new careers
- usually second and third careers - and from former corporate
employees who experienced redundancy for any number of reasons. As
time went on, some mentees entered the program to specifically learn
new tools and methods for expanding existing research businesses to
different markets. After initially working by telephone, I became
convinced that email-based training was more effective and made it
possible for me to reach not only Californians, who I had been
teaching in the San Francisco Bay area, but also interact with mentees
from all over the United States and around the world.
Mentoring has become one component of my business and along with other
forms of teaching, dovetails nicely with my background, interests, and
daily life, which focuses on conducting research. To be a good mentor,
I stay up to date on new technologies and techniques and continually
expand my own knowledge. Based on a varied client base covering
diverse industries and professional service businesses such as legal,
medical, and consulting fields, I mentor students with wide- ranging
interests in terms of their research needs and target markets.
The Mentor Program Today
------------------------
Broadly, the Mentor Program has two central themes:
1) Teaching online research using the Internet and fee-based database
systems such as Dialog, DataStar, Factiva, LexisNexis, Thomson
Business Intelligence (formerly Profound), ProQuest, and others.
This portion of the Mentor Program consists of extensive hands-on
exercises. Mentees practice with real-life questions, evaluate their
own work, and email their research results and analysis. I provide
guidance and feedback with comments, tips, and recommendations. These
procedures facilitate experiential learning. Mentees study how to
search and become familiar with content and cost. Learning cost-
effective search techniques is a necessary component for searching
those expensive fee-based databases. Importantly, mentees learn when
to search which database or online system and why. I also emphasize
how to differentiate between using the open Web, fee-based databases,
print, or the telephone, knowledge essential for successful results.
Topics in the Mentor Program related to research embrace, but are not
limited to, the following:
* Advanced Internet Research
* Industry and Company Research Tactics
* Fee Databases and Aggregators
* Competitive and Market Intelligence Research
* Telephone Research
2) Teaching the Business of the Business, with topics centering on:
* Business Practices
* Market Planning and Niches
* Marketing Strategies that Work
* Managing Clients and their Expectations
* Client Retention
* Search Cost Management
How the Mentor Program Works
----------------------------
The Mentor Program is an instructional training program tailored to
each mentee and is based on individual backgrounds, particular
interests, and strengths and weaknesses. I work with mentees for a
year or more. To accommodate individual needs, the Mentor Program is
go-at-your-own pace. I provide my own writings and reading lists, plus
tailored, written mini-lectures that I prepare to respond to
individual needs and circumstances. Mini-lectures incorporate guidance
about an array of topics such as business infrastructure, pricing,
budgets, negotiating contracts, marketing, and profitability.
A unique, rich and synergistic relationship evolves as I encourage and
persuade mentees to implement a particular business, research, or
marketing strategy. It's not unusual for those who are less
experienced to lack confidence and part of my job is to help mentees
boost themselves. For example, I recommend conducting research only
after closing a sale. For many novices, the desire to find the answer
first is strong but I stalwartly discourage this. Yes - there may be
exceptions necessary for preparing a proposal, like checking database
pricing or sources, using the Web to look at definitions for
unfamiliar terminology or for a quick overview of a topic but spending
more than 15 minutes on research before closing a sale, in most
instances, can lead to disappointments and wasting time on unqualified
prospects. I often provide ideas about more than one way to get
something done and encourage mentees to analyze options or solicit
information from other experts. Mentees then weigh and balance what
they learn, taking their own style, opinions, and experience into
consideration.
Benefits of the Mentor Program
------------------------------
Those entering the Mentor Program learn skills more quickly than
without a mentor. Through written materials and guidance, I show
mentees the ropes. Although there are books, free training materials,
and seminars and webinars on a host of topics related to this field,
when it comes to the nitty-gritty research and business questions,
there's nothing like asking someone who can help cut through the
morass of available information. I emphasize maximizing productivity
when conducting research in order to free up time to build a client
base. I work with mentees on proposals for complex research projects,
which entails dissecting the request into components, assessing
research methods to use for each, and determining time and expense
estimates. Figuring out how to charge is an art that requires
balancing what the market will bear, other variables, and what mentees
must charge to create sufficient profitability. One goal of the
Mentor program is to teach a broad spectrum of tools of the trade and
techniques that are applicable in a great number of situations. After
a solid period of time and experiences with a wide array of databases
and questions, students gradually become self-sufficient and need less
direction. They're ready to take off on their own. I'm available for
subsequent assistance on an as-need basis.
Developing and operating the Mentor Program has been a genuinely
gratifying experience and I believe that many mentees have reaped
rewards based on their comments to me. Some mentees have gone on to
take leadership roles in the Association of Independent Information
Professionals <http://www.aiip.org>.
The world of information research offers an opportunity for
individuals to apply their unique combination of background,
education, and experience. Many of those entering this field are able
to carve out a business specific to capabilities and interests. My
role is to guide and train; however, mentees hold the key through
self-motivation and discipline. A budding research business requires
determination, excellent skills, and the willingness to learn and
implement marketing programs. Through the Mentor Program I champion
strong-minded, dedicated information entrepreneurs. Creative and
enduring efforts result in success.
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Amelia Kassel <amelia@marketingbase.com> is President of MarketingBase
<http://www.marketingbase.com>, a consultancy that specializes in
industry, company and competitive and market intelligence research.
Amelia combines research expertise with knowledge of business and
marketing strategies. She taught at the University of California
Berkeley for 15 years and currently teaches at San Jose State
University School of Library and Information Science. A recognized
author and speaker, she conducts seminars and workshops worldwide.
Amelia is a recipient of AIIP's Sue Rugge Memorial Award and the Gale
Group Writing Award. She authored Super Searchers on Wall Street
<http://www.supersearchers.com> and writes for Searcher and other
industry publications.
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Related FreePint links:
* 'Information and Libraries' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p69>
* Post a message to the author, Amelia Kassel, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.htm#tips>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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You can easily create content feeds and email
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Find out more about the Willco Modules system:
<http://www.Willco.com/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"The New Information Professional: How to thrive in the
Information Age doing what you love"
Written by Sue Myburgh
Reviewed by Lisa Anderson
From the title of the book I had expected a practical guide, full of
hints and tips, on how information professionals could develop skills
and attitudes that would help them to survive and flourish in the
current trend towards the use of ICT in the library profession.
However, it soon became evident that Myburgh approached the topic from
a more theoretical perspective, drawing on her two decades of teaching
in academia.
The book covers topics such as 'What is information work anyway?' and
'What is the Information Society anyway?' Principally aimed at those
who teach future information professionals and information
professional students themselves, the book covers a range of
interesting topics. Myburgh calls for those that run such courses to
reassess the core modules in order to give future information
professionals the skills they will need, so that they are capable of
diversifying into the many areas of information work, and not just
those of academic and public libraries.
Myburgh deals in detail with the political and social aspects of the
Information Age, stating that information professionals largely lack
political acumen and are seldom politically active. She also discusses
the implications of the information divide between the technology rich
and poor and the globalisation of information. Due to this
globalisation, Myburgh believes that it may soon become essential for
the information professional to speak, read and write at least one
other language.
Although interesting at times and theoretically useful, this book is
similar to Susan Horby's and Zoe Clarke's edited work, 'Challenge and
Change in the Information Society'. And for those new to the
information profession and wanting practical tips on how to thrive as
part of the information age, Sheila Corrall's and Anthony Brewerton's
book, 'The New Professional's Handbook', is a good starting point.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Lisa Anderson is a Learning Advisor for Law working in Information
Services at The University of Birmingham. Lisa is also a committee
member of UC&R West Midlands.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/newinfopro.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1843340879/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1843340879/freepint00>
* "The New Information Professional" ISBN 1843340879, published by
Chandos Publishing Oxford Ltd.
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the FreePint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <support@freepint.com>.
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"Google Legacy -- How Google's Internet Search is Transforming
Application Software" September 2005
This unique 290-page report places Google under a microscope,
dissects Google's technology, evaluates its potential and
determines that Google's future lies beyond search.
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
"An extremely well analysed and brilliantly presented
book - must read for all interested".
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.htm#feature>
"Specifying and Implementing Enterprise Search"
By Martin White
This article is an introduction to the new in-depth report published
today by FreePint: "Enterprise Search Guidebook" ISBN 1-904769-10-1
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>.
In July 2005, the Quarterly Survey from McKinsey Consulting
<http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/mck%5Fquarterly/> reported on the
Global Executive Survey that the company had conducted amongst 7,800
executives in 132 countries, a fifth of them at CEO or CIO level.
Overall, 29% of CEO/CIO level respondents and 40% of other senior
managers reported that it was difficult to find information on which
to make company-wide decisions. The inability to find information from
within the enterprise will almost certainly be decreasing the
productivity of employees and increasing business risks.
This is born out of a survey that was carried out in 2004, under the
sponsorship of Inxight Software, among some leading UK financial
sector institutions. According to this survey, 73% of respondents
reported that the main barrier knowledge workers face in sharing
corporate information is not being able to use one information
retrieval tool to capture data across several repositories. 58% of
respondents said that their company's search tools were ineffective at
quickly and efficiently sourcing needed information. 66% of the
companies interviewed said employees were re-generating information
simply because they were unaware whether the documents already existed
in the business.
The overall awareness of search by many managers has been limited to
the experience of using Google, and other web search engines, and
there seems to be little understanding of the differences between web
search and intranet/enterprise search. This situation may improve now
that desktop searching is rapidly increasing in performance.
The fundamental issue about search is that metrics such as relevance
and speed are irrelevant if a user does not trust a search engine to
deliver information that can be used immediately for making a business
decision. The moment that level of trust is broken, because of poor
indexing, search results lists that cannot be easily interpreted and
documents that still cannot be obtained, then the investment has been
totally wasted. There also has to be the trust that accepts that no
relevant documents have been found because there are none in the
index. Null results are always difficult to accept.
Already many organisations are seeking to ensure that their intranet
search engine is complementing other information architecture
components. Search on its own will not paper over the cracks of a
poorly designed intranet with inadequate metadata. The better the
intranet search experience the sooner the suggestion will be made that
the search engine should be extended to search document and records
management applications, client management systems and even structured
databases. The requirement is now for enterprise search.
The challenges of specifying, selecting and implementing an
enterprise-level search engine can be daunting. Until the search
engine is fully implemented and has indexed all the designated
content, the performance of the software cannot be assessed, and there
is also a continuing need to 'tune' the search engine as new content
is added and new types of user requirement arise.
Establishing requirements
-------------------------
The main tasks a search engine undertakes are the acquisition of
content to be searched (through spiders or scripts), indexing
(together with taxonomy generation and metadata enhancement), query
management, results presentation, document presentation and, finally,
performance management. The way in which each of these tasks is
carried out varies between vendor, and it is essential to have a good
understanding of which approaches are best for a particular collection
of documents and applications in order to evaluate possible vendors.
There are three interlinked elements in the process of establishing
requirements for an enterprise search engine:
1) A thorough audit of current and anticipated document types and
volumes needs to be carried out. The rate of addition is important
as the indexing of the documents needs to be carried out on a
schedule that ensures the documents are available to be searched
within an appropriate time.
2) Assessing the implications for server architecture, storage,
application integration and network bandwidth is important, because
the search will almost certainly be extended over time , and then
IT scalability issues become critical. The most intensive server
element is the indexing of the documents, but the ability to then
serve up the documents rapidly as a user identifies them can put
quite a load on servers and networks.
3) Determining the range of user requirements for search will assist
in ensuring that the right information/metadata elements are
presented in the search results page. Knowing how long a search
engine took to do the search is one of the most useless bits of
information ever presented on a desktop.
The document audit and the user research will also assist in the
development of a test collection of documents which will enable the
search engines to be evaluated on a 'real' collection. Just taking a
random 10% sample is not going to be good enough.
Implementation never stops
--------------------------
Having selected and installed an enterprise search engine is just the
start of the implementation. There will be a continuing need to
optimise search engine performance through changes to the indexing
routines, enhancing taxonomies and other metadata, reviewing the
results page presentations, undertaking ongoing usability tests and
responding to feedback from users who can't find what they are sure is
in the document collection.
This means that there needs to be an appropriate range of skills in
the project team that is maintaining the search engine, and that can
be difficult to set up as the demand may be periodic rather than
daily.
Ten critical success factors
----------------------------
There are at least ten critical success factors for selecting and
managing an enterprise search application:
1. Excellent project management
From the outset, a broad-based project team and a senior-level
sponsor are essential because of the range of knowledge and skills
required to develop the initial specification and then to evaluate
the products.
2. Knowing what there is to be searched
The characteristics of the document collections that will be
initially and potentially indexed and searched need to be audited
to a high level of reliability. Just a few important documents in
an unusual file format may remain undiscovered forever.
3. Rigorous testing as part of the product evaluation
One outcome of the document audit should be a representative test
collection of documents so that all the relevant functionalities of
the search engine can be evaluated before any decision to purchase
is made.
4. Understanding user requirements
In any organization there will be a range of different search
requirements from users, depending on the purpose for which they
are searching and their previous experience of searching. These
requirements are best identified though the development of search
personas and scenarios.
5. Understanding the technology of search
All search software products index documents, run queries against
the index and then present the results of the search to the user.
Understanding clearly how this is carried out is important in
assessing the relative merits of each product.
6. Anticipating scalability and extensibility issues
Most enterprise installations start small and then grow. The
implications of scaling up the indexing process and extending the
functionality (for example for multiple languages) need to be
assessed at the outset and kept under continuous review.
7. Assessing integration issues
The ease with which a search engine can be integrated into, or
with, other applications (for example a database of clients) is not
easy to determine in advance of the work being undertaken. A minor
upgrade in either the search software and the other application(s)
may give rise to a substantial loss of search performance.
8. Testing for usability
Providing a high degree of usability of the search interface is
essential, and should be based around the search personas and
scenarios developed in the specification phase. A small change in
the presentation of search results can have a significant impact on
usability.
9. Meeting changing user requirements
A search engine needs to be continuously monitored and tuned to
ensure that search performance and changing user expectations and
requirements are identified as quickly and unambiguously as
possible, and feedback provided on the extent to which they can be
met.
10.Appreciating that 'trust' is the best metric of search performance
Raw computer power will, in itself, not meet user requirements for
search. Effort has to go into developing and applying appropriate
metadata, taxonomy and categorization schemes that enable the user
to trust the search engine to either deliver the information being
sought or confirm that no relevant information exists.
Ten useful web resources
------------------------
Search tools for web sites and intranets <http://www.searchtools.com>
This site is maintained by Avi Rappoport, and offers comprehensive
lists of search engines, useful articles and links to just about
everything of importance on the practice and technology of
searching. The best place to start without a doubt.
New Idea Engineering <http://ideaeng.com/pub/entsrch/index.html>
New Idea Engineering was founded in 1996 to provide technical
consulting, training, and programming to companies implementing
search technologies from Verity, Ultraseek, Fulcrum Technologies,
and Autonomy. The company is based in Cupertino, near San Francisco.
The site offers the good 'Enterprise Search Newsletter'.
Ballardvale Research <http://www.ballardvale.com/reports.htm>
Ballardvale Research is an IT analyst firm that analyzes how
organizations can optimize their online persona -- their Web site --
by the appropriate use of content management, search,
personalization, and Web analytics technologies. The coverage of
enterprise search is quite good and there is a useful blog from Guy
Creese.
Unstruct.Org <http://www.unstruct.org/>
The best of the search blogs from the Swedish consultancy
Infosphere.
Searchmax <http://searchmax.blogspot.com/>
This is the blog of Dave Goebel, the Chief Executive of the Goebel
Group, and covers both web and enterprise search developments.
In Search of Search Solutions.
The Gilbane Report: Volume 10, Number 3 April 2002
<http://digbig.com/4esce> An excellent introduction to search
technology by Sebastian Holst.
Searching for Value in Search Technology.
The Gilbane Report: Volume 10, Number 7. September 2002
<http://digbig.com/4escf> A follow-up article by Sebastian Holst.
Both articles touch on both web search and enterprise search.
Search Engine Meeting
<http://www.infonortics.com/searchengines/index.html>
This is organized by Infonotics, and usually takes place in Boston
in April each year. The Eleventh Meeting takes place on 24/25 April
2006. The papers cover new technical developments in both web and
enterprise searching. Most of the papers given at the event from
2001 onwards can be downloaded from the web site.
Search papers from Step Two Designs
<http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/index.php?subject=searchtools>
James Robertson writes very practical papers on search topics,
including:
* What to include in intranet search results
* Intranet search reports
* Deploying an effective search engine
The Enterprise Search Report. Second Edition, July 2005 CMS Watch
<http://www.cmswatch.com>
This report, which costs USD1350, provides detailed profiles and
comparisons for over 25 of the leading search engines.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This article is an excerpt from the new in-depth report:
"Enterprise Search Guidebook" Martin White
ISBN 1-904769-10-1 September 2005
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Martin White is Managing Director of Intranet Focus Ltd.
<http://www.intranetfocus.com>. He specializes in intranet strategy
development and the specification and selection of content management
software applications, and has worked in over 25 countries. He is the
author of The Content Management Handbook
<http://www.intranetfocus.com/technology/cmhandbook.php>.
Martin is the Chairman of the Online Information Conference and a
regular columnist on intranet issues for both Econtent
<http://www.econtentmag.com> and Intranets
<http://www.intranetstoday.com/>. His own experience in information
retrieval dates back to the mid-1970s.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related FreePint links:
* "Enterprise Search Guidebook" Martin White
ISBN 1-904769-10-1 September 2005
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>.
* 'Internet Webmaster' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p183>
* Post a message to the author, Martin White, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/290905.htm#feature>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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FREEPINT GOLD
A look back at what FreePint covered at this time in previous years:
* FreePint No.168 30th September 2004. "The Conundrum that is Online
Advertising" and "Sources on EU Enlargement"
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/300904.htm>
* FreePint No.146 2nd October 2003. "Problems with Good Credit
Information on Chinese Companies" and "Digital Preservation -
Barbarians at the Gate" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/021003.htm>
* Free Pint No.122 3rd October 2002. "Effective Writing: How Good Copy
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to Knowledge Ecology? - IBM's David Snowden Maps a 'Third Way' for
KM at Open University Seminar"
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/031002.htm>
* Free Pint No.97, 4th October 2001. "Tax Links" and "Taxonomies are
what?" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/041001.htm>
* Free Pint No.72, 5th October 2000. "Influence of the Internet on the
Patent Process" and "All change for search technology?"
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/051000.htm>
* Free Pint No.47, 7th October 1999. "Sources of UK Financial
Information on the Internet" and "Getting Good References"
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/071099.htm>
* Free Pint No.23, 1st October 1999. "The Good Times are not about to
end, unfortunately" and "There's an awful lot of coffee in Brazil:
Coffee information on the Web"
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/011098.htm>
Penny <penny@freepint.com>
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