The annual KM World & Intranets 2007 Conference / Expo in San Jose keeps growing, adding a West Coast version of the successful Enterprise Search Summit (ESS) held in May in New York. The co-location of Taxonomy Bootcamp and Streaming Media West creates a dynamic interplay between different aspects of the information business, from technology to enterprise content.

Attendees voiced the value of the range of tracks from strategic management of knowledge to the practical aspects of selecting and living with search software and applications, down to the nitty-gritty of taxonomy implementations. Traffic was good in the vendor booths of the Expo area, as technologists and content managers mingled over receptions, meals and seminars.

The opening keynoter for ESS was Susan Feldman, Research Vice President, Content Technologies, IDC. describing a market in flux with many competing technologies. Search is the missing piece for enterprise software, and large software vendors are entering the market. SaaS options are good solutions due to the complexity of search technology, and need to have the latest version.

The keynote was a nice lead into the session that I chaired on "Solving the Multiple Search Engine Problem" addressing approaches to the proliferation of departmental search vendors within organizations. Rennie Walker, Wells Fargo, described "waking up one morning with the multi-search engine blues", resulting in creating a Search Center of Excellence (COE). Swetswise uses a federating search software, Museglobal, to deliver a subscription delivery product incorporating multiple search indexes. Miles Kehoe, New Idea Engineering, identified the challenges of maintaining distributed search engine indexes--a practicality not addressed by vendors.

Security, ediscovery and regulatory compliance were themes in other presentations. Search across multiple repositories brings the thorny problems of access control to the underlying content. Depending on the application, different levels of security may be necessary, down to the sub-document level. Choices include "early binding" vs. "late binding" options for access. Additional challenges include the changes in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure of 12/1/2006, making risk management of the enterprise search environment more critical.

Steve Arnold, highly regarded industry expert on search engines chaired a keynote panel originally entitled "Giants Do Stumble: Are Google and Microsoft in Decline?" modified in the final program to "What's Next for the Search Engine Giants", questioning product managers from Google and Microsoft, who provided little new insight. Both companies are relative newcomers to the enterprise search space, and had vendor booths in the expo, joining traditional vendors. Arnold, in a later session, honed in on Google and his analysis of their patents to predict new directions.

Findability is more than keyword search in full text documents, a message which came through in both the sessions and vendor presentations. Sessions on semantic search indicate progress in actual implementation, which is closely tied to classification and taxonomy systems. Improved navigation, particularly faceted search, are another approach to improve the user experience, and improve findability.

Niche software vendors on the exhibit floor, demonstrated other approaches to improving findability. Siderean uses a relationship approach which intuitively fits research and discovery processes, to improve findability. Cognition was demonstrating their linguistic search software with great promise for in depth research, particularly in scientific and technical literature, with a plethora of potential search terms. Deep Web Technologies showed the power of federating search software, as implemented at science.gov and scitopia.org.

Enterprise search and management of organizational intellectual capital have become mission-critical. The challenge is finding the right approaches for the organization, then the technical tools for implementation. Increasingly, behavioral and linguistic aspects are being recognized as essential factors in the process of adding value to the organization. Search is not easy, and delivering answers to people is not straightforward. It's finding the right combination of solutions that challenges the attendees at these conferences..there is no one-size-fits-all!

Labels: enterprise, ITI, Jean Bedord, search, Semantic Web

Monterey is the traditional setting for this conference, now celebrating its 11th year with the highest ever attendance, as attendees spilled into the overflow seating for the keynote speakers. Though not billed as a Web 2.0 conference, the presenters and attendees were exploring the new generation of Web technologies and their applications to library services. With many repeat attendees and speakers, community was evident in the conversations around food in the exhibition hall and in the corridors between sessions, as well as the Blogger's Alley.

Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project gave a fast paced summary of recent studies. Their research confirms trends toward more gadgets everywhere and increased participation. Yet there is another reality in their segmentation of web users. Only 8% of Internet users are the familiar technophiles, though they are thought leaders. Various types of low tech users are a whopping 49% of study participants. Lee emphasized that different people use technologies in different ways, and this should be reflected delivery of library services.

This means that library services need to evolve, particularly to involve younger, more technically savvy users. Joe Janes, Associate Dean, University of Washington, spoke eloquently about Reference 2.0, minus the usual PowerPoint presentation. He emphasized the importance of joining the conversation of the community, and getting outside the walls of the library. A practice requirement is measuring online activities as closely as gate count and book circulation statistics, to justify budget increases....

The search ecosystem from the library standpoint was a major theme of the conference. Danny Sullivan, Founder and Editor of Search Engine Land, looked back at his predictions for search, which have come true in 2007, with the introduction of blended search results by both ASK and Google, as well as more personalization. Mobile search is the next frontier for delivering information services onto the rapidly evolving cell phone platform. Search on this platform has small, focused results, with more emphasis on local businesses, as effectively demonstrated at the ASK mobile site.

Multimedia was another theme of the conference, from podcasting tools to searching tips for multimedia content explored by Ran Hock. Multimedia materials are highly in demand in the academic environment, but are yet another type of media to find. The technology for creating content is still too hard to use, but new services like telephone to podcast, will make this process easier (a tip of the hat to Gary Price, Resource Shelf and ASK.com). Creating YouTube videos and participating in Second Life and MySpace are effective tools for improving library visibility.

Virtual worlds were another major theme to the conference with libraries experimenting with Second Life in providing library services, particularly to teens. San Jose State University is a pioneer in utilizing Second Life in their distance learning program for the school of Library and Information Science. Cindy Hill pioneered Second Life in the corporate environment for Sun Microsystems.

Gaming and Learning in the Library tracks were well attended, giving a perspective on maintaining relevance to today's teens. A public library in Riverton, Wyoming, provides a game room for a much needed place for teenagers to hang out under non-parental adult supervision.Libraries report participants in gaming also utilize other library services and also become active volunteer, both positive outcomes.

Halloween was the last day of the conference, and the closing keynote speaker, Liz Lawley, Director, Rochester Institute of Technology, Lab for Social Computing presented as Maleficent, her character in World of Warcraft. I found her comparison of Second Life and World of Warcraft experiences enlightening, as well as her message that gaming can promote professional networking, as well as family time. So why can't learning and doing a job be as much fun as World of Warcraft?

Labels: ITI, Jean Bedord

The New York Hilton was again the setting of this must-attend conference for search professionals focused on implementing search in their organizations. Opening keynoter, Susan Feldman, Research VP of Content Technologies, IDC, framed the dilemna well. Search is hot, and the vendors happy with over 30% growth, busily rolling out new product features. But as the use of search within the enterprise grows, integration with other applications is more important. So enterprise search companies are repositioning as Business Intelligence platforms, rather than solely search. At the time time, other companies in the Business Intelligence (BI), Enterprise content Management(ECM), Knowledge Management (KM) spaces are integrating more search capabilities.

For attendees looking to buy their first search engine, Theresa Regli, CMSWatch, described the infrastructure analysis that needs to be done prior to establishing the evaluation framework. She emphasized selection of a search engine involves more than a checklist of features. Jennifer Whalen, Portal Manager, Deloitte, spoke to lessons learned about working with a currently installed search engine (Sharepoint), and no budget for a replacement.

A common themes in the speakers was that search is more than technology. Content and business rules determine successful implementations. Content includes what should be indexed, as well as content types. It comes in the form of unstructured content created at the desktop, but also as structured content found in databases. And increasingly, content includes images, and video content (included in over 20% of current search applications according to the Shore/Information Today report, Enterprise Search, Deployment, Usage and Trends). This was reinforced by the booming attendance at the co-located Streaming Media Conference right next door to Enterprise Search.

Underlying search are the bigger issues of security and compliance. The implications of the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedures (FRCP) which went to effect on 12/1/2006 were clearly explained by Prudence Zalewski, Software Synthesis. The financial costs involved in the discovery process mandate risk management planning, particularly for email retention! These developments will force a more explicit role and responsibility for search and records management within the organization, and demand for experienced search professions....see you next fall at Enterprise Search West!

Labels: enterprise, events, Jean Bedord, search

Information Today, Inc., Shore Communications, Inc., and respected analyst Jean Bedord recently completed an in-depth study of the dynamic enterprise search marketplace. More than 250 search professionals – users, buyers, and champions of the technology – provided unique insight into the trends driving and shaping enterprise search. This primary market research was supplemented by in-person interviews with representatives of market leading vendors. details and purchasing

Labels: enterprise, ITI, Jean Bedord, Research, search, surveys

The 10th annual conference of KM World and Intranets Conference in San Jose, October 31 - November 2, reflected the complexity of knowledge management today. There were sessions on KM itself, then additional tracks for Intranets 2006, Content Management and a new event, Taxonomy Bootcamp. Attendance increased this year in the concurrent Streaming Media West conference, with an expanded presence in the shared vendor exhibit hall, reflecting expansion of video on the web. Web analytics and business applications were part of the mix, reflecting a shift from a more technology based focus.

The payoff for effective knowledge management is improvements to the organization. Using that knowledge for innovation, rather than just maintaining the existing business, was the challenge described by keynoter Steve Wunker, Innosight, as he described cases of disruptive technologies. Second day keynoters, Dave Snowden and Cindy Gordon, carried that theme further, showing the infamous video clip with the gorilla walking unnoticed through a basketball game. Closing keynoter, Peter Andrews, identified two major future trends: nanodevices and virtual living, as epitomized by World of Warcraft and Second Life.

Organizing digital information was a major topic at the conference, with Taxonomy Bootcamp keynoter, David Weinberger, focusing on the complexities of providing context for categorization. Traditional taxonomies are based on physical objects, but in an electronic world, linkages permit multiple taxonomies with different views. Tagging is a way of capturing emergent terminology, but taxonomies provide structure. Overall, the taxonomy sessions in the KM track were well attended along with full rooms for the Taxonomy Bootcamp sessions.

Search is the driver behind expansion of categorization, as it exposes different aspects of information, which have been hidden in silos within the organization. On both the exhibit floor and on the panels, search vendors described their different approaches to making it easy for users/customers to find "stuff" on enterprise websites. Endeca provides guided navigation, Vivisimo does clustering, and the Google/Yahoo/Ask world does keyword matching...all valid approaches.

But the crucial aspect of implementation within the enterprise is characterizing the application, determining the relevant content, and then selecting a search software! As Steve Arnold aptly stated "Search is hard".... he described the upcoming battle for the desktop between Microsoft with its upcoming new release of Sharepoint, and the ever expanding world of Google on the Web, as well as competition among the other major search vendors. Though not represented at KM World, Autonomy in its different flavors and FAST are competing head to head in the OEM marketplace as well as large content providers. Smaller search vendors can be found in other niches, and at other price points....all leading to the need for search consultants, such as New Idea Engineering, with their popular Dr. Search to review cases on the exhibit floor!

Presentation is another aspect of organizing information which extends into designing websites to provide information in alternative formats which provide context and additional meaning. Jeffrey Veen, Design Manager for Google, showed examples of Google map mashups that provide extra utility for the organization, by presenting information in different formats. Tools like this will have a major impact on the intranet designs that are utilizing Web 2.0 technologies (whatever this term really means!).

Improving the user experience was an underlying theme for many of the sessions. Information is both generated by the organization and utilized by the organization for decision making, so optimizing usage is a crucial challenge. The challenge for attendees is to find the right approach to their situation, given the myriad of options available in a rapidly changing environment. Though there are no easy answers, this conference gave them a lot of different aspects to explore!

Labels: Jean Bedord