College Students Not Such Good Googlers
October 4, 2011
I read an interesting article the other day based on a series of studies conducted by five Illinois universities known as the Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project. The study was conducted over the last two years in order to better understand college students’ study habits. So far the findings have not been data that will get some 20 somethings jobs.
Apparently, not only do most students rarely utilize the help of librarians or even set foot in their school library, but even more surprisingly, the so-called tech-savvy millennial generation isn’t better at using Google than any other age group. In the Mashable Tech article, The Google Gap: College Students Aren’t Good at Searching, Sarah Kessler reported:
One hundred and fifty-six students who were interviewed at the five schools about their research habits mentioned Google more than any database. The 60 students who participated in a “research process interview” — with researchers following them around the library as they searched for information — frequently used the search engine poorly. And when they used other databases, they expected them to work the same way that Google does.
If accurate, search services that spoon feed “predicted” information to the graduates are in a position to control what these bright young folks thing, understand, and cogitate upon. Talk about controlling the conversation. The predictive results crowd are the conversation captains. The users are the rowers of the digital trireme.
While this article emphasizes the problem being that students are unable to narrow their search results when using the search engine, which may be true, I’d like to point you to another article which, in my opinion, gets at the real issue. Librarians are not seen as academic experts who are there to help students with their assignments, but rather as bodies used to point to different sections of the stacks. I believe that in order to improve students study habits, colleges and universities must show students the important role that librarians play in our academic institutions.
Jasmine Ashton, October 4, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Key Issues for SharePoint Tomorrow
October 4, 2011
Key Issues for SharePoint’s FutureSo what’s in stock for SharePoint and its users in the future? There’s a whole smattering of topics on the table at the moment: governance, market domination, out-of-the-box solutions, deployment, optimization, web site platform, etc. Thousands of articles exist on each topic, but we found one that summarizes the main ones in a nice list. We like lists. AIIM condenses everything in the article, “SharePoint, Don’t Blame the Product.”
A total of five items are addressed, the first asks, “Is there a problem with SharePoint expectations, marketing, or the product itself?” The answer is that SharePoint is not a genie in a bottle. It can’t do everything, so just blame Microsoft. The second question deals with governance and how to do it. It’s a simple answer: plan. Governance is not a new idea and other programs have dealt with it for years. Just make plans and if they don’t work, once again blame Microsoft. Here’s another:
What does SharePoint do well out-of-the-box? What doesn’t it do? It is great at basic document management and basic collaboration. Need a team site or a project site, SharePoint does that well. You want Business Process Management, Business Intelligence, Records Management, or Web Content Management; get ready to roll up your sleeves.
There you have it: blame Microsoft, plan, put in some hard hours, and let practicality rule. Issues exist on both sides of the table. Our view is that the ubiquity of SharePoint creates many case examples of tremendous success as well as ample opportunity for grousing.
When we need to enhance a SharePoint installation, we turn to certified solution providers with products that deliver needed functionality without adding additional challenges. For findability and indexing, we recommend Ontolica, a solution developed by SurfRay. In fact, SurfRay poses no new issues. It resolves findability.
Whitney Grace, October 4, 2011
Page Views Add Top Dog Credibility
October 3, 2011
Short honk: I wanted to capture the reference to “one billion page views.” This is a big number, and I don’t know if it is accurate. Online usage data are—ah, how shall I phrase it—somewhat malleable. The source that carried the claim was “HuffPost at One Billion Monthly Page Views: More buying, More Launching, More Hiring.” The article contained a hint of what one of the goslings called “page view envy.” I have no idea what the person was talking about. I learned:
Along with the record one billion page views, the site also said it had 37 million unique visitors in August, the largest number it has posted yet, with 5.1 million comments.
This struck me as important for one simple reason: HuffPost and Ms. Huff herself now have some additional ammunition to oust the Googler and take over AOL. In my view, Ms. Huff has what it takes to make AOL grow. The Googler in chief at AOL now has the distinction of making a deal for an acquisition that knows how to generate traffic, capture headlines, and operate in an organized fashion. Am I right? Hard to say. I wanted to capture this thought, however, because “real” journalists are not in this particular game at this time. Real journalists mostly report was Ms Huff is doing.
Stephen E Arnold, October 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Autonomy Beefs Up Marketing Services
October 3, 2011
Autonomy Corporation, soon to be a unit of Hewlett Packard, is spearheading the meaning based computing movement. The Cambridge, UK business analytics company revealed today its plan to extend Autonomy Optimost’s cloud-based optimization and analytics capabilities. Among the enhancements are new modules designed to help businesses significantly increase their return on their investments in social, mobile, and search engine marketing.
The news release Autonomy Unveils Technologies to Radically Improve Social, Mobile, and Search Marketing Performance asserted:
Online marketers spend more than 60% of their budgets on search, and now must address emerging channels like social and mobile. Autonomy gives marketers a differentiated approach, by providing a single platform for online marketing optimization. Marketers can gain insight into a constantly proliferating volume of unstructured customer data, including tweets, blogs, videos, phone calls and web visits, connect the dots and automate and optimize their spend, resulting in the highest rate of conversions for the business.
Powered by IDOL, Autonomy Optimost uses the industry’s most advanced pattern-matching, testing and optimization capabilities. It uses a unique approach to marketing that allows organizations to gain a better understanding of their customers and data. This company is leading a radical new movement that is sure to transform the way organizations approach advertising.
Jasmine Ashton, October 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Confusion Aids Learning: Good News for Biased Search Results
October 3, 2011
As Google and other search engines toy with new models to increase user-friendliness, ease-of-use, and predictability of search results, a new study shows that perhaps all those qualities held so highly by search engine designers are not so hot. The article, Eric Mazur’s Keynote at ICER 2011: Observing demos hurts learning, and confusion is a sign of understanding, on Computing Education Blog, explains how just the opposite may be needed for search users to grasp new search archetypes.
Image source: http://written-by-a-nobody.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html
According to computer education guru, Eric Mazur, how students learn is by being taught straight facts, with no regard for their confusion. In fact, a little confusion is a good thing – it forces the individual to search for clarification, i.e. learn. This wisdom came from a study he conducted measuring the success rate of various models of teaching: demo given before direct instruction, no demo given before direct instruction, student predictions before direct instruction and discussion before direct instruction.
Contradictory to what most would assume, the direct instruction method (with nothing else) scored highest along with the discussion model. The article explains why the results were what they were:
…observing a demo is worse than having no demo at all! The problem is that you see a demo, and remember it in terms of your misconceptions. A week later, you think the demo showed you what you already believed…People remember models, not facts, said Mazur.
The fact that prediction and demo models failed to increase learning should be a wake-up call for search engine designers – stop coddling! I wonder if the shift to applications, not old fashioned research is accelerating certain casual and shallow learning.
Another aspect Mazur studies was the effect of confusion on the student’s part. The results showed that students who admitted confusion actually answered more correct answers than those who reported not being confused after direct instruction. Mazur surmised that the results reflect that confusion leads to one’s trying to make sense of the information.
While Bing, Blekko, and Google are tinkering with its search engine effectiveness, these firms may want to look at what the research is saying about how the general masses learn. By creating Web search engines that put training wheels on intellectual exercise, an opportunity to manipulate ideas and conceptual frameworks seems to be available.
Catherine Lamsfuss, October 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, September 26 to September 30
October 3, 2011
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how some of the biggest names in the business are underwhelming us lately and need to do better.
One such story was “Microstrategy Not the King of Cloud BI,” http://inteltrax.com/?p=2471 which discussed how one very fine business intelligence operation is failing at becoming something it is not—a cloud BI hotspot.
Similarly, the story “Teradata Doesn’t Have the Power to be Dominant” http://inteltrax.com/?p=2435 showcases how another smart analytics firm is stretching itself too thin by trying to become everything to everyone instead of focusing on the core things it does exceedingly well.
Our feature story, “Pentaho and SizeUp Lean Toward Free Analytics,” http://inteltrax.com/?p=2616 was rich with successes for analytic software providers, but also cataloged how customers working exclusively with freeware programs from top BI names will be regretting the choice.
We’re keeping our eye on the top names in business intelligence and data analytics and playing watchdog in the process. Even excellent companies make mistakes and we’ll be here to warn consumers and slap said companies on the wrists with cutting commentary and insight every day.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting
www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax, October 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Observations about Content Shaping
October 3, 2011
Writer’s Note: Stephen E Arnold can be surprising. He asked me to review the text of his keynote speech at ISS World Americas October 2011 conference, which is described as “America’s premier intelligence gathering and high technology criminal investigation conference.” Mr. Arnold has moved from government work to a life of semi retirement in Harrod’s Creek. I am one of the 20 somethings against whom he rails in his Web log posts and columns. Nevertheless, he continues to rely on my editorial skills, and I have to admit I find his approach to topics interesting and thought provoking. He asked me to summarize his keynote, which I attempted to do. If you have questions about the issues he addresses, he has asked me to invite you to write him at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com. Prepare to find a different approach to the content mechanisms he touches upon. (Yes, you can believe this write up.) If you want to register, point your browser at www.issworldtraining.com.— Andrea Hayden
Research results manipulation is not a topic that is new in the era of the Internet. Information has been manipulated by individuals in record keeping and researching for ages. People want to (and can) affect how and what information is presented. Information can also be manipulated not just by people, but by the accidents of numerical recipes.
However, even though this is not a new issue, the information manipulation in this age is much more frequent than many believe, and the information we are trying to gather is much more accessible. I want to answer the question, “What information analysts need to know about this interesting variant of disinformation?”
The volume of data in a digital environment means that algorithms or numerical recipes process content in digital form. The search and content processing vendors can acquire as much or as little content as the system administrator wishes.
In addition to this, most people don’t know that all of the leading search engines specify what content to acquire, how much content to process, and when to look for new content. This is where search engine optimization comes in. Boosting a ranking in a search result is believed to be an important factor for many projects, businesses, and agencies.
Intelligence professionals should realize that conforming to the Webmaster guidelines set forth by Web indexing services will result in a grade much like the scoring of an essay with a set rubric. Documents should conform to these set guidelines to result in a higher search result ranking. This works because most researches rely on the relevance ranking to provide the starting point for research. Well-written content which conforms to the guidelines will then frame the research on what is or is not important. Such content can be shaped in a number of ways.
Is Google the Mozart of Online Advertising?
October 3, 2011
The Google recipe for its Web site placement order for searches is closely guarded despite the company’s open-source policy. Google Discusses Their Algorithm Change Process at Search Engine Journal explains the lengthy and arduous process Googlers must go through in the quest for search engine effectiveness.
Mozart was gifted, somewhat like the Energizer Bunny until his batteries gave up, and able to suck up the best ideas from whatever sequence of notes he happened to absorb. Not surprisingly, Mozart did his best to control his musical output, leaving gaps in his manuscripts, which, I presume, reminded him to make something up as he went along. The gap also added difficulty to those who would game his musical system. Is Google the Mozart of online advertising?
Google allegedly explains that Google must guard the algorithms to keep the manipulation of its numerical recipes to an acceptable minimum. In fact, an entire industry has grown up around trying to crack Google’s search algorithms in an effort to bolster one’s ranking. Google isn’t just sitting around; rather, they are constantly updating and tweaking their algorithms. The leitmotif runs through objectivity and results shaping is evident to me. Am I alone? The article asserts:
Each idea is based on improving the user experience, but not every idea actually shows a positive user impact; while over 500 changes were made last year, over 20,000 experiments were conducted in that same time period. The key takeaway is that, while it’s a good idea to pay attention to experiments, only a small cut will ever become a part of the standard – and, with 500 changes a year, even those alterations are subject to reversal.
With so many changes constantly occurring behind the curtain, how are websites to keep up? Although 500 changes may be made in a year, not all of them (hardly any at all) have an impact of the majority of site rankings, according to Google. The few changes that do shake things up, make life interesting for certain Web sites. Most companies relying on Google traffic for sustenance are in constant competition with Google’s algorithm. A misstep—either intentional or unintentional—can deliver a surprise with algorithm updates. In fact, as I write this, a new Panda is apparently underway. The publisher of this blog is indifferent to traffic, using this Web log as a diary of information and ideas which are recycled for for fee columns, monographs, client reports, and the occasional industry talk. Most Web sites do not enjoy this luxury.
Search engine optimization experts find new ways of diluting search results precision and recall. As long as there is billions of dollars in advertising being thrown around the Google rankings, there will be those trying to manipulate it. And when traffic building is really needed, a frazzled marketer can just buy Adwords.
I don’t think the analogy of Google and Mozart has sufficient elasticity to cover the balancing of organic search (that is, gaming the system) and buying Adwords. I do think Google and to some extent Bing are gifted composer conductors. Musicians have to follow the score or lose out.
Catherine Lamsfuss, October 3, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SharePoint: The Management Tool for the Future?
October 3, 2011
I just learned that I need to keep an Eye on SharePoint, because it is the management tool of the future.
Here at Beyond Search we keep our readers up-to-date on the latest news related to search, business intelligence, and IT trends. We report regularly on Microsoft SharePoint, because it is a popular collaborative content platform used in many enterprises and companies. Market Watch also noticed SharePoint’s growing presence and reported on it in “ESG Survey Reveals Two out of Three Enterprises Use SharePoint as a Business Critical Application-Need for SharePoint Management Tools a Top Priority to Help Scale and Improve Performance.”
The entire article can be summed up in the title. The meat is information comes from an Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) whitepaper entitled “Managing SharePoint as a Business-critical Application” and how Metalogix—an alleged leader in providing content lifecycle management solutions for SharePoint—can solve those issues. “Lifecycle management” is a synonym, I believe, for editorial policy and records management. The buzzword “governance” is also used, particularly when an organization realizes that unfettered content creation leads to interesting challenges for security, legal issues, and privacy.
SharePoint is a top business application and is driven by a need for team and document collaboration. There are some optimization problems: data mobility and movement, storage management, utilization, and quick response times. The write up asserts:
Metalogix solutions for SharePoint delivers this holistic approach to SharePoint management, providing users with the freedom to consolidate, manage and optimize their enterprise content the way their applications behave. Metalogix eliminates the out-of-the-box operational constraints and enables organizations of all sizes to optimize the SharePoint content infrastructure in order to consolidate, scale and cost-effectively manage, migrate, store, archive and protect enterprise content whether on-premise or in the cloud.
We don’t think this market grip will be loosened in the foreseeable future. Microsoft dominated the OS market with Windows 95, but they have slipped in that area. Will SharePoint be their saving grace? End users are comfortable with Microsoft, so we bet it will be around for a long time to come.
Our view is that the scope of a governance or lifecycle problem can best be gauged with effective findability tools. Before one can remediate, one must know what is available within a SharePoint environment. Therefore, our approach is to relay on SurfRay’s Ontolica. It is difficult to solve a problem without reliable information about the scope and scale of the issue.
Whitney Grace, October 3, 2011
SurfRay
IBM Public Relations Chugs Away on Watson and Health Care
October 2, 2011
IBM shows continues to pitch the potential of its supercomputer Watson. IBM sees Watson as the health professional’s Florence Nightingale with a degree in library science and a PhD in health insurance statistics. Computerworld reported on this development with the article “IBM’s Watson to Diagnose Patients.”
The idea is that two is always better than one and its not just IBM that is in on this idea–Blue Cross Blue Shield’s largest health plan Well Point agreed to create joint applications.
These applications are rooted in evidence-based medicine and have the capacity to use Watson’s search analysis to review all prior cases, clinical know-how, and medical literature to assist doctors in diagnosing and treating their patients.
In helping us understand what makes this possible, Computerworld outlines the specs on Watson in their article:
Watson consists of 90 IBM Power 750 Express servers powered by 8-core processors — four in each machine — for a total of 32 processors per machine. The servers are virtualized with a kernel-based virtual machine scheme, resulting in a server cluster with a total processing capacity of 80 teraflops. (A teraflop is one trillion operations per second.)
Our local hospital still uses big fat monitors and clunky monospaced input forms. No supercomputers in sight. In fact, the hospital riffed 500 health professionals with more cuts coming. Watson may be just what the doctor ordered, right?
Clinical pilots early next year will be the first step before Watson becomes the norm in your physicians office. As IBM continues to hammer away at this project, they’re definitely not putting a dent in their reputation.
Sounds good. Now the cost, the infrastructure, and the upkeep? No problem, of course. My doctor wants a new Audi convertible. He didn’t mention Watson as a must have the last time I spoke with her.
Megan Feil, October 2, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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