Enterprise & Intranet Search How Enterprise is different from Web search What to think about...

Enterprise & Intranet SearchEnterprise & Intranet Search

• How Enterprise is different from Web search• What to think about when evaluating

Enterprise Search• How Intranet use is different from Web use- And what that means for search

Intranet DifferencesIntranet Differences

• Intranet = content inside the organization• Learning from content, not for commerce• Smaller content collections

- Smaller content subjects- Smaller number of possible tasks or queries

• More document types than the Web (supports)• Filtering could be more applicable• Taxonomies may be present (& understandable)

- Work groups, locations, departments, projects

• Content managed in some way (culture or policy)• Is the goal to discover tacit knowledge?

Differences in Intranet useDifferences in Intranet use

• Bandwidth- Wireless too

• Security- Financial work, Access policies

• New technology- Mobile, high-resolution displays, …

• Legal- Regulation (Sarbanes Oxley)- Privacy

• Cultural- Adoption- Revolution

One week of corporate searchOne week of corporate search

• What are the patterns of search in a corporation?- Big company 70K- 740K documents

• 80% HTML, ~15% PDF- Ultraseek engine

• 11-15 minute search sessions• Small drop in Friday searching• 71% of the 5644 users only active on one work-week

day• User sessions

- 1.2 w 2.47 activities = infrequent- 3.03 w 9.7 activities/day = frequent

• What interfaces & tools could increase use?- Is increased searching a net good for knowledge workers?

Is Enterprise IR different?Is Enterprise IR different?• Application Design

- Webify – Front Ends- Web Services- Application Service Providing- (More) Database Integration

• (Even More) Integration Issues- Content (CMS and Politics)- Quality & Quantity

• Existing Design Guidelines• More Specific Users

- One corporation- The accounting department

• More Definable Goals- Dictated by management- Interaction with (all?) potential users

• Must Use- Use Data- Feedback for Verification

Enterprise SearchEnterprise Search

• Centralized & Measurable- More Return on Investment• Work tasks• Easier to develop than Web-wide search

• Clarified- Consistent- Accurate

• Simplified Technology Platform- More Open to Information Sharing- IA Structures Help Define Organization (Goals)

• Extendable IA System

Intranet Search & Info ExtractionIntranet Search & Info Extraction

• Building a system specifically for knowledge workers, vertical markets & types of users

• Do you think intranet search is different?• IT workers spend 15-35% of work time

searching for information• We need more than relevance as a measure of

specific tasks- Question Answering: specific answers, not

keyword matching- Categorizing user needs• By user? Department? Job? Task?

• Satisficing results vs. the right answers

Information DeskInformation Desk

• Tasks- Term definitions- Homepages for (internal) groups or topics- Experts- Employee contact (personal) info

• Categorization of need- Query text itself- Resulting documents- Selected documents

• Developed a hierarchy

Catergories of Search NeedsCatergories of Search Needs

Analysis of Search NeedsAnalysis of Search Needs

• Query logs- Information & navigational needs- Home pages & Relevance (content)

• Survey- How to’s & Downloads- Technologies, products, services, groups,

projects, people

• More in-depth analysis possible (logs, more questionnaire surveys)

• How different are these needs from Web search?

Challenges in Enterprise SearchChallenges in Enterprise Search

• Google (Web) is the worst enemy of Enterprise search

• Content complexity: dbms, non-linked docs, email, CMS content, access levels, servers/locations

• Ranking becomes more difficult with different document types, metadata, systems

• Do we need Enterprise Metasearch?- Enterprise, Federated, Web content ++ ?- Corporate Web site, intranet, email, company

directory, forms, templates, reports…

Key IR research for EnterprisesKey IR research for Enterprises

• Defining an appropriate enterprise search test collection

• Effective ranking over heterogeneous collections that a characteristic of enterprise environments

• Portals for knowledge workers (intranet & internet?)• Email search• PageRank, relevance measures for internal

documents• Understanding search context• Future considerations for linked, internal media• Multimedia*• Web 2.0 features & document types*• Crawling & updating strategies*

Solutions to Enterprise IRSolutions to Enterprise IR

• Designing linking mechanisms- Based on use or (user generated) metadata- Derive metadata & evaluate automation (e.g. email)

• Navigation in intranets (saves searching)• APIs & open access• Part of records management activities• Intense focus on user evaluation &

development cycles

Final Projects & PapersFinal Projects & Papers

• Use class readings for prove your points• Be daring with your ideas & state why you

think they’re right or interesting• Cite any non-obvious facts• Proof read you writing• Be conscious of writing style & grammar• Use APA or ACM style guidelines

• This should be a good contribution to your portfolio of graduate work.