Findability and the Google Search Paradigm: Integrating Search as an Organizational Solution
What is “findability”?
find•a•bil•a•ty n
a. the quality of being locatable or navigable. b. the degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate. c. the degree to which a system or environment supports navigation and retrieval.
Peter Morville
Why findability matters...
Why findability matters... Exhibit A:
Information Retrieval (IR) Human and Computer Information Retrieval (HCIR)
The core challenge of findability is the tension between ... How information is externally organized and/or indexed
Information Retrieval (IR) Human and Computer Information Retrieval (HCIR)
The core challenge of findability is the tension between ... How information is externally organized and/or indexed How the human brain internally understands, recalls and retrieves information
Why findability matters... Exhibit A:
Why findability matters... Exhibit B:
Why findability matters... Exhibit C:
Why findability matters... Exhibit D:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/search-keywords.html
That’s the setup. But first, a quick overview of the history of the Web, and what it has to do with “findability.”
“The Search for Search” - Stage 1
The pre-Web era, before the 90s creation of the Internet (inter-connected networks)
“The Search for Search” - Stage 1
The pre-Web era, before the 90s creation of the Internet (inter-connected networks) data retrieval protocols, e.g., Gopher, FTP, etc.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 2
The early-Web, 1990 to 1996 just making a simple connection in 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee implements the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 2
The early-Web, 1990 to 1996 just making a simple connection in 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee implements the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet. primitive web search - simple, literal, linear search dependent on your knowing the precise title or header of a web page.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 2
The early-Web, 1990 to 1996 just making a simple connection in 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee implements the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet. primitive web search - simple, literal, linear search dependent on your knowing the precise title or header of a web page. web directories or portals = “manually” compiled taxonomies listing link collections, e.g., Virtual Library, early Yahoo!, etc.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 2
The early-Web, 1990 to 1996 just making a simple connection in 1990 - Tim Berners-Lee implements the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet. primitive web search - simple, literal, linear search dependent on your knowing the precise title or header of a web page. web directories or portals = “manually” compiled taxonomies listing link collections, e.g., Virtual Library, early Yahoo!, etc. early automated search algorithms = using statistical analysis of word relationships to make searching more effective.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 3
Google emerges, 1996 - 1998 game changer: an embryonic search engine called “BackRub” (1996) running out of Stanford which a year later became “Google” (1997)
“The Search for Search” - Stage 3
Google emerges, 1996 - 1998 game changer: an embryonic search engine called “BackRub” (1996) running out of Stanford which a year later became “Google” (1997) fetching an awesome ... 24 million web pages... totalling a staggering ... 148 GB! (1997)
“The Search for Search” - Stage 3
Google emerges, 1996 - 1997 game changer: an embryonic search engine called “BackRub” (1996) running out of Stanford which a year later became “Google” (1997) fetching an awesome ... 24 million web pages... totalling a staggering ... 148 GB! (1997) (Google now indexes one trillion web pages)
“The Search for Search” - Stage 3
Google emerges, 1996 - 1997 game changer: an embryonic search engine called “BackRub” (1996) running out of Stanford which a year later became “Google” (1997) fetching an awesome ... 24 million web pages... totalling a staggering ... 148 GB! (1997) (Google now indexes one trillion web pages) Google resets the notion of search result ranking with use of PageRank
“The Search for Search” - Stage 4
Google road kill... 1998+ In January 1999, LSNC.net had a Search Engines & More page listing about 50 search site options, including Google with this annotation: “the new kid on the block, getting rave reviews for quality of results”
“The Search for Search” - Stage 4
Google road kill... 1998+ In January 1999, LSNC.net had a Search Engines & More page listing about 50 search site options, including Google with this annotation: “the new kid on the block, getting rave reviews for quality of results” Google becomes a verb and synonymous with “search” (Google the verb starts showing up in dictionaries in 2006)
“The Search for Search” - Stage 4
Google road kill... 1998+ In January 1999, LSNC.net had a Search Engines & More page listing about 50 search site options, including Google with this annotation: “the new kid on the block, getting rave reviews for quality of results” Google becomes a verb and synonymous with “search” (Google the verb starts showing up in dictionaries in 2006) In June 2009, Google had a 70-82% share of the search engine market
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2000 - present 2000 - 2003 Google Toolbar Google Groups Google Image Search Google News
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2000 - present 2000 - 2003 Google Toolbar Google Groups Google Image Search Google News 2004 Gmail Google Desktop
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2000 - present 2000 - 2003 Google Toolbar Google Groups Google Image Search Google News 2004 Gmail Google Desktop 2005 Google Maps Google Talk (IM) Google Analytics
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present 2006 Google Chat (IM integration) Google Calendar Google Docs | Spreadsheets Google Apps Google Custom Search
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present 2006 Google Chat (IM integration) Google Calendar Google Docs | Spreadsheets Google Apps Google Custom Search 2007 Google Docs | Presentations
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present 2006 Google Chat (IM integration) Google Calendar Google Docs | Spreadsheets Google Apps Google Custom Search 2007 Google Docs | Presentations 2008 Google Docs | Forms Google Sites
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present 2006 Google Chat (IM integration) Google Calendar Google Docs | Spreadsheets Google Apps Google Custom Search 2007 Google Docs | Presentations 2008 Google Docs | Forms Google Sites 2009 - 2010 Google Contacts Google Voice Google Wave
http://foxyurl.com/7jB
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“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present
Currently, Google offers 50+ web applications.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present
Currently, Google offers 50+ web applications. Google Apps hosted services are currently used by 1.75 million companies, increasing at a rate of 3,000 per day.
“The Search for Search” - Stage 5
The ubiquity of Google, 2004 - present
Currently, Google offers 50+ web applications. Google Apps hosted services are currently used by 1.75 million companies, increasing at a rate of 3,000 per day.
“What feature do they all have in common?”
Findability
find•a•bil•a•ty n
a. the quality of being locatable or navigable. b. the degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate. c. the degree to which a system or environment supports navigation and retrieval.
Peter Morville
Findability
find•a•bil•a•ty n
a. the quality of being locatable or navigable. b. the degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate. c. the degree to which a system or environment supports navigation and retrieval.
Peter Morville
Findability
find•a•bil•a•ty n
a. the quality of being locatable or navigable. b. the degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate. c. the degree to which a system or environment supports navigation and retrieval.
Peter Morville
Findability
find•a•bil•a•ty n
a. the quality of being locatable or navigable. b. the degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate. c. the degree to which a system or environment supports navigation and retrieval.
Peter Morville
Web Search Paradigms
Defining the need for information
navigational... you want to know where - i.e., tell me where a particular site or document is located. informational... you want to know who or what - i.e., acquire static information on a web page or in a document. transactional... you want to know how - i.e., take a web search result and perform an activity or process the information dynamically, to a particular purpose.
Andrei Broder
Other Search Paradigms
Defining the need for information
vertical search... perform a search and show me a slice, subsets or different types of related results.
temporal search... locating real-time or time-line information. faceted search... metadata models for creating faceted classifications, allowing the user to filter information in alternate ways (analogy: library catalog system).
exploratory search... what if the user doesn't know which keywords to use or isn't looking for a single answer? (e.g., Google's Wonder Wheel) crowd-sourcing relevance through the social stream... the significance of findable social media. (e.g., Twitter)
E.g., time-line filtering
E.g., "wonder wheel" exploratory search
Brian’s brain
Brian’s brain on search
Brian’s brain on search
Desktop
Brian’s brain on search
Mapped Drives
Desktop
Brian’s brain on search
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Desktop
Brian’s brain on search
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Desktop
Brian’s brain on search
Private Cloud ... Google Apps
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Desktop
Brian’s brain on search
Public Web ... Google
Private Cloud ... Google Apps
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Desktop
Local Search: It is all about you
Public Web ... Google
Private Cloud ... Google Apps
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Google Desktop
Desktop
Intranet Search: We're all in this together
Public Web ... Google
Private Cloud ... Google Apps
Google Sites
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Google Desktop
Desktop
Enterprise Search: The whole enchilada
Google Search Appliance Google Mini
Public Web ... Google
Private Cloud ... Google Apps
Google Sites
WAN ... organization-wide intranet
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Google Desktop
Desktop
Enterprise Search: The whole enchilada
Google Search Appliance Google Mini
Public Web ... Google
Google Sites
Enterprise search is similar to but WAN ... organization-wide intranet not synonymous with Web search
LAN ... local-office network Mapped Drives
Google Desktop
Desktop
Enterprise Search: The whole enchilada
Google Desktop Search
Google Desktop Search
{ Pros and Cons }
Google Sites
Google Sites
{ Pros and Cons }
Google Mini
http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/mini.html
Google Search Appliance (GSA)
http://www.google.com/enterprise/search/gsa.html
Google Search Appliance (GSA)
http://www.findabilityproject.org/
Google Search Appliance (GSA) ~ Targets
all official intranet content (select Google Sites content, file uploads and other file targets) additional designated Google Sites project content peer-reviewed collection of recommended pleadings, memoranda and other types of commonly used advocacy documents. a comprehensive collection of supporting documents for all impact cases and projects. all content at all LSNC public web locations (seven program sites, eight feeds, and all linked documents and other files) user-generated, high-value text-based documents (WordPerfect, Word, PDF, PowerPoint, RTF, TXT and XLS) to be organized, over time, in a structured taxonomy in shared document repositories.
Google Search Appliance (GSA) ~ Targets
Hey, mister enterprise-search-smarty-pants-guy...
“What about case management system data?”
Google Search Appliance (GSA) ~ Exemplars
{ Demo search for "immigrant eligibility" } { Demo search for "cash reimbursement" } { Demo filetype and collection filters } { Demo OneBox feature }
Google Search Appliance (GSA)
{ Pros and Cons }
Real and imagined obstacles to implementing enterprise search in a non-profit environment
financial costs
Real and imagined obstacles to implementing enterprise search in a non-profit environment
financial costs organizing your organization’s “stuff” - the paralysis that comes with issues of taxonomy, vocabularies, folksonomies, metadata models, etc.
Real and imagined obstacles to implementing enterprise search in a non-profit environment
financial costs organizing your organization’s “stuff” - the paralysis that comes with issues of taxonomy, vocabularies, folksonomies, metadata models, etc. integration of document management - the need to address document handling protocols and real world practice.
Real and imagined obstacles to implementing enterprise search in a non-profit environment
financial costs organizing your organization’s “stuff” - the paralysis that comes with issues of taxonomy, vocabularies, folksonomies, metadata models, etc. integration of document management - the need to address document handling protocols and real world practice. hidden costs of the learning curve, maintenance and nurturance
Real and imagined obstacles to implementing enterprise search in a non-profit environment
financial costs organizing your organization’s “stuff” - the paralysis that comes with issues of taxonomy, vocabularies, folksonomies, metadata models, etc. integration of document management - the need to address document handling protocols and real world practice. hidden costs of the learning curve, maintenance and nurturance the expectations of practical obscurity: the good news is, Google finds everything; the bad news is, Google finds everything. Like, it really finds everything.
Gestalt this: Information architecture (IA)
Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld
Brian Patrick Lawlor, Regional Counsel Legal Services of Northern California Sacramento, California blawlor@lsnc.net http://lsnc.net/ http://webdogs.org/ http://findabilityproject.org/