Search: In this context, we mean the computer based but human focused/driven examination designed to find that which is concealed. Search helps you find what you know exists and what you know you need.
Discovery: Helps users find what they need, even if they don’t know what to look for. This is a much more open ended problem. Gartner tracks both search and discovery in the category “information access.” Federated, semantic based search capabilities will continue to improve. But it is a flawed approach to think that an analyst must think of every possible question and search every database for every possible question. That does not scale. Discovery is the domain of Endeca.
- Expect continuing advances in new, more powerful search capabilities including in-stream media management using new multi-threaded capabilities. However, these powerful search capabilities are not keeping up with the drive to interconnect and access increasingly large data sets (which is required for horizontal interoperability). We will continue to face search-scaling problems.
- We expect richer, higher bandwidth interfaces into more human senses, including the use of more interactive interfaces. This is a movement away from entering terms into a web-based search box.
- First- the search box gets on every app, but later the search box goes away and is replaced with a statement of desire and then guided navigation/iteration of results.
- Federating and integrating results a long term challenge. Ensuring attacks on relevance also a challenge.
- Capabilities provided by leaders in “guided navigation” like Endeca provide disruptive capabilities we will want to accelerate into the environment.
- Architect so data finds data, the right info (and relevance) finds users, and users continually access relevance.
Related articles
- US Census Bureau Launches New American FactFinder on Endeca (ctolabs.com)
- Endeca’s MDEX Engine Review (ctolabs.com)
- Endeca Government Summit: Important context on a key mission area (ctovision.com)
- US Census Counts with Endeca (arnoldit.com)
- Metadata Search and Browse (searchtools.com)
- Web-Scale Discovery | American Libraries Magazine (americanlibrariesmagazine.org)
