Publishers Pose Threats to Text Mining Expansion
March 26, 2012
Text mining software is all the rage these days due to its ability to make significant connections by quickly scanning through thousands of documents. This software can recognize, extract and index scientific information from vast amounts of plain text, allowing computers to read and organize a body of knowledge that is expanding too fast for any human to keep up with. However, Nature.com recently reported on a some issues that have developed in this growing industry in the article “Trouble at the Text Mine.”
According to the article, text mining programmers Max Haeussler and Casey Bergman have run into trouble trying to get science publishers to agree to let them mine their content.
The article asserts:
Many publishers say that they will allow their subscribers to text-mine, subject to contract and the text-miners’ intentions, and point to a number of successful agreements. But like many early advocates of the technology, Haeussler and Bergman complain that publishers are failing to cope with requests, and so are holding up the progress of research. What is more, they point out, as text-mining expands, it will be impractical for individual academic teams to spend years each working out bilateral agreements with every publisher.
While some publishers are getting on board the text mining train, many are still trying to work out how to take advantage of the commercial value before signing on. Too bad it takes more than a degree in English to make text mining deliver useful results. Bummer.
Jasmine Ashton, March 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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