SharePoint Search: An Open Source Widget
September 15, 2013
If you have SharePoint responsibilities, you know how fabulous Microsoft’s Swiss Army knife solution is. Let me explain. The “fabulousness” applies to consultants, integrators, and “experts” who can make the rusty blade cut better than it does once the system is installed.
I learned about “SharePoint 2013 Search Query Tool” from one of the ArnoldIT SharePoint experts. You can download tool to test out and debug search queries against the SharePoint 2013 REST API. The tool does not help improve either the system or the user queries, but I find this software interesting for three reasons:
After years of Microsoft innovation, there are still issues with getting relevant results. Ergo the open source tool.
SharePoint does not provide a native administrative function to perform this type of testing.
Open source may be edging toward SharePoint. If the baby steps mature, will an open source snap in to replace the wild and crazy Fast Search & Transfer technology pop into being?
Stephen E Arnold, one of the world’s leading experts in information retrieval said:
Fast Search is on a technical par with SharePoint. The idea that two flawed systems can cope with changing user needs, Big Data, and unexpected system interactions is making SharePoint software which boosts costs. Change may be forced on Microsoft and without warning.
Worth thinking about and checking out the free widget.
Stuart Schram
IBM a Cloud Leader
September 15, 2013
I read “IBM Named as a Leader in IDC MarketScape on Worldwide Cloud Professional Services Vendor Assessment.” Fascinating item. The article said:
IBM was recognized in the “leaders” category in part because of its current capabilities, including customers’ feedback naming IBM’s top strengths as providing functional insights and competence, industry insights and competence and leveraging resources globally. In addition, IBM’s future strategy related to cloud professional services contributed significantly to its position as a leader.
With the Amazon dispute over a US government contract still flickering at the edge of my consciousness, I wonder where Amazon ranks in the assessment. With cloud computing a fuzzy notion for me, what about Google? Hewlett Packard? Microsoft? Rackspace?
Perhaps the IBM news release is a good way to generate interest in one of those azure chip consultant reports?
When I know what cloud computing is, then I will be able to process a “leader” badge. In the meantime, I will let the buzzword flit right by me, hidden away in a hollow in rural Kentucky. A leader! Impressive for a $100 billion consulting and services company which uses open source search technology combined with a Rubik’s cube of acquired technology. Some of the technology is going to make cloud implementations interesting indeed.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2013
Microsoft Sharepoint Found Strong, But Lacking in Key Functions
September 15, 2013
In the article titled Is Semantic Search the Solution to Information Retrieval in Sharepoint? on CMS Wire, a survey taken by a UK firm is under discussion. The survey reveals that up to half of Sharepoint users have trouble with finding internal information or getting the full support for the business in which Sharepoint is being deployed. The article does stress that the survey does not specifically ask what version of Sharepoint the respondents use. The article explains,
“The research points out that SharePoint is primarily an enterprise collaboration platform and not a search tool… It also shows that many information professionals believe they are getting less out of SharePoint enterprise search functions than their peers. Even worse, a quarter of SharePoint users believe that the SharePoint search function is offering them access to less than half the information contained in the enterprise. It also shows that most users think that information workers in other enterprises have better search capabilities.”
With nearly 100 million users globally, and 78% of Fortune 500 companies using Sharepoint, the research suggests that the search function was the most problematic.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Ebook Sales Get Flushed Down The Toilet
September 15, 2013
Digital books are supposed to replace the dead tree book, but according to the Rough Type blog in the post, “The Flattening Of eBook Sales” says they are do not doing too well. Nicholas Carr, the author, noted at the beginning of 2013 that ebook sales would follow the trend of 2012: decline sales. He pulls data from the Association of American Publishers that state eBook sales only grew 5% in the first 2013 quarter. Adult ebook sales were only up 13.6% and children sales were down 30.1%, partially due to there not being a big book a la The Hunger Games.
The digital book revolution is losing the pressure to chug along and many of the reasons that Carr lists are true. Some types of books are better suited in print:
“We may be discovering that e-books are well suited to some types of books (like genre fiction) but not well suited to other types (like nonfiction and literary fiction) and are well suited to certain reading situations (plane trips) but less well suited to others (lying on the couch at home). The e-book may turn out to be more a complement to the printed book, as audio books have long been, rather than an outright substitute.”
There is also that any Americans have no interest in the format, e-readers are slowing in sales when up against a tablet, and the price difference between a paper book and an ebook is not that much. Do you want my opinion? Staring at a computer screen makes me dislike going home to read a book on my tablet. I like the tactile difference with a printed book and also it does not require a battery, unless you count my imagination.
Whitney Grace, September 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Boom Coming in SEO Opportunities
September 14, 2013
I know that relevance, precision, recall, and the other oddments of information retrieval are toast. With certain European academics pumping “good enough” search, the future of findability looks less than sunny.
There is a bright side I suppose. I read “Report Suggests Nearly Half of US Jobs Are Vulnerable to Computerization.” The idea is that software and gizmos will allow people unprecedented free time to practice high value crafts.
Here’s the passage I noticed:
The authors [Oxford researchers] believe this takeover will happen in two stages. First, computers will start replacing people in especially vulnerable fields like transportation/logistics, production labor, and administrative support. Jobs in services, sales, and construction may also be lost in this first stage. Then, the rate of replacement will slow down due to bottlenecks in harder-to-automate fields such engineering. This “technological plateau” will be followed by a second wave of computerization, dependent upon the development of good artificial intelligence. This could next put jobs in management, science and engineering, and the arts at risk.
My take on this is that the search engine optimization industry may be a good place to offer one’s expertise as a “thought leader.” SEO work may be as gratifying as working at a fast food joint. It may also be easier and pay more. A back up to consider is content management consulting. That’s a sector where success is elusive and tomfoolery not unknown.
Stephen E Arnold, September 14, 2013
Why Not Up Funding for Search Technology?
September 14, 2013
I read “NASA Identifies 3 Potential Asteroid Targets to Catch With Space Lasso.” The idea sounds interesting. But given the findability problems which are causing many—including NASA scientists—to wring their hands, why not fund more research into search technology. I understand that NASA has some bold ideas, but a here-and-now challenge is information retrieval. If one cannot find pertinent technical information, will that asteroid roping plan work? Yippy ki-yay.
Stephen E Arnold, September 14, 2013
Pipe Information Dreams Often Forget
September 14, 2013
Do we dare broach the subject about heath care information and electronic media records? Yes, we do and we take into account “Dr. Karl Kochendorfer: Bridging The Knowledge Gap In Health Care” from Federated Search Blog. Dr. Karl Kochendorfer wants there to be an official federated search for the national health care system. His idea is to connect health care professionals to authoritative information with an instantaneous return. He cites that doctors and nurses are relying on Wikipedia and Google searches rather than authorized databases, because it is faster. Notice the danger?
Dr. Kochendorfer mentions this fact in a TED talk he gave in April called “Seek And Ye Shall.” He presents the idea for a federated search in this discussion, along with more of these facts:
- “There are 3 billion terabytes of information out there.
- There are 700,000 articles added to the medical literature every year.
- Information overload was described 140 years ago by a German surgeon: “It has become increasingly difficult to keep abreast of the reports which accumulate day after day … one suffocates through exposure to the massive body of rapidly growing information.”
- With better search tools, 275 million improved decisions could be made.
- Clinicians spend 1/3 of their time looking for information.”
Dr. Kochendorfer ‘s idea is grand, but how many academic databases are lining up to offer their information for free or without a hefty subscription fee? Academia is already desperate for money, asking them to share their wealth of knowledge without green will not go over too highly. Should there be a federated search with authoritative information and instantaneous results? Yes. Will it happen? Keep fixing the plumbing.
Whitney Grace, September 14, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Domain Name Resource Available
September 14, 2013
Just a quick FYI for anyone looking for the perfect, unclaimed domain name. Check out Short Domain Search, a handy resource that lists available domain names of reasonable lengths. The site describes:
“This is a list of short, available single-word domain names. It’s searchable and sortable using the controls above. This list is automatically updated every 10 minutes, but domains go fast, so if you see something you want, grab it before it’s gone.”
You can narrow your search of the long list by extension, by length, or alphabetically. Check it out, before someone else snaps up your perfect domain name.
Cynthia Murrell, September 14, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Computerworld Offers an IT Recipe for Getting Fired
September 13, 2013
I read “Fatal Distraction: 7 IT Mistakes That Will Get You Fired.” I thought Harvard and MIT churned out top notch information technology managers. I may have to revise my thinking about business insight and what organization is the leader in advanced business thinking. The Computerworld article provides a recipe for getting fired. In today’s economy, this recipe will be an instant hit on the stand up circuit or an example of hard hitting analysis from one of the world’s leading publishers.
I don’t want to reproduce the seven ingredients for instant termination. Please, consult the original article for the full list.
The germ of the write up seems to be expressed in this statement:
Everyone messes up at some point. But some screw-up’s are almost always fatal — to jobs, if not entire careers.
The big reasons for getting fired include:
- Failure to meet obligations for “digital assets”. I wonder if Computerworld or its owner has ever worked this idea in reverse. The write up does not say.
- Abuse “vast powers”. I assume this is a Snowdenesque reference but perhaps it applies to administrative personnel who muff a bunny.
- Speaking up. Well, speaking up may generate a lawsuit when large outfits don’t want certain information disseminated.
- Snooping on a superior. I assume that generalized snooping is a lesser offense. I worked at an outfit and watched a senior manager flip through papers in employees’ cubicles. I kept quiet and recalled the adage, “Clean off and lock your desk.” I assume email content processing is an alternative in some organizations.
- Costing the outfit money. Yep, in today’s economic climate, an employee who misses targets for revenue, profit or cost control is likely to get an opportunity to become an expert in analytics, search, or content processing.
That’s just the introductory paragraph. What are the really big actions that will cause instant termination?
Here are three which were incisive thoughts for me here in rural Kentucky:
First, covering up a crime. Okay, I must admit it never occurred to me to commit a crime at work. I am not sure what the frequency of crime is in the data sample which Computerworld tapped, but it must be significant. Perhaps some people just work for criminals. If that occurs, the discussion point becomes, “Should an employee commit a crime against a criminal employer?” Point of view will play a role in the answer.
Second, creating a disaster. I found this an interesting assertion. Since about two thirds of information technology projects fail, why are some information technology managers employed. If the 2/3 failure rate is accurate, information technology must be a revolving door of turnover. I can think of some pretty interesting failures which left the senior information technology person employed. The outfit terminated were the service provided and sometimes an unlucky consultant.
Third, speaking the truth. As I approach 70 years in age, I have worked in a number of settings in which the boss wanted the facts. The people who did not deliver facts were terminated. Nice was not what these managers wanted. Sure, in public a happy face was like a white shirt and blue tie. Behind closed doors, facts were the common currency.
Do these Computerworld assertions reflect the real world, a bizarro world, or a journalist’s world? My hunch is that the write up reveals more about the source than it does what goes on at a successful local business called El Nopal, the Mexican restaurant which is doing a land office business with “good enough” technology. I would title the write up “Fatal Abstractions.”
Does a McKinsey Award loom for the author?
Stephen E Arnold, September 13, 2013
Getty Museum Opens its Public Domain Content
September 13, 2013
Our open-content loving hearts are aflutter. The Getty Museum‘s Iris magazine declares, “Open Content, an Idea Whose Time Has Come.” The Museum has just launched its Open Content Program to (gradually) share what it can of its digital archives with the masses. The museum believes it is high time to tap into today’s technology to expose more people to the magic of art and to facilitate collaboration, creativity, and education. James Cuno, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, writes:
“The initial focus of the Open Content Program is to make available all images of public domain artworks in the Getty’s collections. Today we’ve taken a first step toward this goal by making roughly 4,600 high-resolution images of the Museum’s collection free to use, modify, and publish for any purpose. These are high-resolution, reproduction-quality images with embedded metadata, some over 100 megabytes in size. You can browse all available images here, or look for individual ‘download’ links on the Getty Museum’s collection pages. As part of the download, we’ll ask for a very brief description of how you’re planning to use the image. We hope to learn that the images will serve a broad range of needs and projects.”
I hope so, too. The plan is to continue adding more public-domain images as they are processed, including works in the Getty Research Institute‘s special collections. The buildup of available images will take time, since digital curators are performing a careful review of copyright and privacy restrictions. Moving forward, the museum might include other content in these archives, including documentation on field projects from the Getty Conservation Institute and other knowledge resources.
Getty admits that they are not the first museum to employ such an initiative; the organization is following the lead of others, like The Walters Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, Yale University, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Harvard University. It is a welcome move that we hope even more institutions will embrace.
Cynthia Murrell, September 13, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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