Making Search Work

In all organizations, the value and volume of unstructured information is significantly greater than that of structured data. Organizations rely on folder structures and information architecture to locate information on shared drives and intranets, but become overwhelmed by the amount of new content. They need better search solutions to provide rapid and accurate access to the increasing mass of information from internal servers and external information services, and to meet compliance and governance requirements such as Freedom of Information legislation. The array of web and enterprise search engines now becoming available meets this need. This unique book is designed to help organizations to understand, specify and implement desktop, website, intranet and enterprise search applications. The technology of search is presented in a non-technical way to enable you to understand the benefits and issues of each type of search solution, from the traditional high-end range to the newer plug-and-play solutions. Fully supported by references to web resources and other further reading, the book covers: how search works; the search business; making a business case for search; specifying and selecting a search engine; optimizing search performance; search usability; desktop search; implementing web search; implementing search for an intranet; enterprise search; multilingual search; and future directions for search. An appendix offers profiles of 40 search software vendors worldwide. Whether you are an enterprise knowledge manager, information professional, website owner, e-commerce director, or anyone responsible for implementing your organization's internal search strategy, this book will give you crucial guidance to be found nowhere else. It also provides essential awareness of the issues for all those on information science courses around the world.