Monday, May 14, 2012
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
W1: Building Taxonomies for Search and Autocategorization
Heather Hedden, Taxonomy Consultant, Hedden Information Management
Learn how to use taxonomies to improve search results, in terms of both precision and recall, from the author of The Accidental Taxonomist. Search engines that integrate technology with taxonomies are often called autoclassification or autocategorization systems. Although the indexing is automatic, and even taxonomy enhancement can be automatic, the designing and initial building of a taxonomy is not. This workshop provides best practices for designing and building taxonomies specifically for use in search, including the creation and wording of terms, synonyms, and hierarchical relationships. Other topics covered include search taxonomy and navigational taxonomy comparisons, autocategorization technologies, and tools for taxonomy management and autocategorization. Not only does Hedden have vast experience in actually building taxonomies, she has taught thousands of would-be and experienced taxonomists in workshops and university settings.
W2: Enterprise Search Project Management
Lynda Moulton, Principal, LWM Technology Services
This workshop addresses issues that have derailed many ambitious enterprise search projects. It is organized around four major project activities: planning based on business needs, identifying products for consideration, making a final selection and procurement, and managing the ongoing support of the software system and content. Throughout the discussion of these project activities, issues of content management, vocabulary management, and user needs and expectations management are highlighted. At this workshop, attendees learn how to lead enterprise search projects while reducing risk and sustaining momentum. Moulton's long-standing consulting practice gives her extensive knowledge of how projects work in different environments, where they are similar and different. Jump-start your own project management skills and learn from Moulton!
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
W3: Five Things Your Search Vendor Never Told You
Miles Kehoe, Founder & President, New Idea Engineering
Anyone responsible for enterprise search has likely heard users lament that your internal search platform isn't more like the popular internet search and commerce sites. Yet even some companies that utilize the Google Search Appliance find that even it isn't always "just like Google." Search vendors often see their role as the supplier of the technology, and your role as implementer of the capabilities and methodologies to make search work well. The actual features vary between vendors, but we've found that the main factor differentiating mediocre search from great search is methodology. This session teaches you the things your search vendor expects you to do as you implement and manage an enterprise search platform. Discover and understand the steps you can take to make sure you've implemented search in a way that enables your users find the right content. Learn to enhance content at index time, query tuning for better relevance, apply user and query context, postprocess results lists, and verify security compliance. This workshop discusses specific business and technical details, providing examples from many of the leading commercial and open source platforms.
W4: Text Analytics for Search Applications
Tom Reamy, Chief Knowledge Architect & Founder, KAPS Group
Text analytics has much to offer to enhance search applications with its ability to add structure to unstructured text and to apply that structure either at content creation by integrating with content management or dynamically at search results times. However, integrating search and text analytics is complex and falls outside the expertise and comfort range of most IT departments. This workshop covers all you need to know to add text analytics to semantic applications: the basic analytic techniques from machine learning to sophisticated rule building; a survey of the vendor space of text analytics; an evaluation process of the right text analytics software for your organization; and an iterative development process. We look at issues and how to overcome them, along with the range of types of applications that can be built with text analytics, both on its own and, more importantly, in conjunction with enterprise search.