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5856 results in Facet Publishing

Page 264 of 293

Blended Learning
  • Tools for Teaching and Training
  • Barbara Allan
  • Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007
  • Education and training have been transformed in the 21st century as a result of changing patterns of work and culture, and learners increasingly expect technology-rich and flexible learning opportunities. Nowadays, learning takes place in a wide range of physical spaces, for example in educational or training organizations, in the workplace or at home, as well as in both public and private virtual spaces. Information professionals currently face the challenge of providing end-user education and staff training to very large and diverse groups, whilst integrating the use of ICT into their teaching. But there seems to be a tendency within the LIS literature to focus solely on the methodologies of face-to-face learning or of e-learning, and this is a lost opportunity.This book offers a holistic blended learning approach, combining the best of traditional and new approaches to learning and teaching to make best use of the advantages of each while minimizing the disadvantages. It provides information professionals with a practical guide to the design and delivery of such training programmes, illustrated with a broad range of library-based examples, checklists and case studies.This book covers key areas which include: tools and technologies in the classroom - virtual communication tools, social-networking software, e-learning systems, m-learning, and models of teaching and learning; planning and designing blended learning programmes; using individual and group learning activities; working as an e-tutor; developing online communities of interest and practice; and, managing blended learning projects - working in collaborative and multi-professional teams. This unique book will be of great value to any information professionals, whatever their previous level of experience, involved in establishing and delivering training and learning programmes and end-user education. It will also benefit staff developers in schools, colleges and higher education; library and information students; independent consultants and trainers; and, information suppliers such as database providers.

  • 7 - Working as a tutor

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 151-172

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The purpose of this chapter is to explore issues associated with working as a tutor in a blended learning programme. Reading this chapter will enable library and information workers who are involved in the design and delivery of blended learning programmes to have an understanding of their role and responsibilities. Library and information staff may deliver or support teaching and learning in a blended learning programme in a number of different ways:

  • • Lead and facilitate all learning and teaching activities, including face-to-face and/or online provision.

  • • Co-facilitate a variety of face-to-face and/or e-learning activities as part of a blended learning programme delivered by a multi-professional team.

  • • Provide face-to-face or online support to learners who are accessing online learning opportunities using ICT in the library or e-learning centre.

  • • Provide additional support to a programme facilitated by another tutor, e.g. face-to-face on a help desk, or via telephone, e-mail or a virtual learning environment.

    • Information workers who are involved in facilitating and supporting blended learning programmes need to develop and use a range of teaching and training skills. Although working in a virtual environment requires many of the same skills and techniques that are used in a face-to-face environment, it also requires the development of new approaches to communicating with learners. This chapter will consider the following topics: principles of tutoring; e-tutoring; presentations; working with a co-tutor; and student helpers.

    Principles of tutoring

    In recent years the landscape of education and training has become more complex as models of teaching and learning have shifted from a didactic tutor-centred model of learning to one that is more student-centred. There has also been a shift from face-to-face or e-learning programmes to blended learning programmes. In addition, individual library and information workers may be working in a context where they are required to work collaboratively in teams that may be designing learning programmes based on different underlying pedagogies. Consequently, this means that tutors must be extremely flexible and adept in working with a range of pedagogies and different approaches to teaching and learning. Figure 7.1 illustrates two extreme approaches to teaching and learning (from Goodyear, 2000), and in today's world tutors need to be able to span both of these extremes.

  • 8 - Communities of practice

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 173-200

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Librarians and information workers have a long history of working together and anyone reading the professional literature will soon realize that there are many professional groups and organizations that promote networking and collaborative working. Membership of these groups often provides access to information, help and support as well as informal mentoring and professional development. For many library and information workers, membership of these groups or communities is an important aspect of their development as professional practitioners. They provide opportunities for support, coaching and mentoring, as well as a group of like-minded individuals willing to work together on shared problems and issues. Communities of practice provide a means of enabling groups to come together and learn from and with each other. Many professional groups and organizations now support communities of practice and these are frequently mediated by a website hosting virtual communication tools.

    The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the concept of communities of practice, and these are distinguished from communities of interest. This is followed by an outline of the characteristics of communities of practice, which are illustrated with a number of practical examples of library and information communities of practice. An extensive case study exploring the long-term impact of a multi-professional blended learning community is presented in this section. This is followed by an outline of the processes involved in establishing a work-based community of practice. The final part of the chapter considers the topic of mentoring, as this process is often located within a community of practice.

    Communities of practice and communities of interest

    There is a large and developing academic literature on communities of practice and Andrew Cox (2005) provides a helpful comparison and summary of four seminal works on this subject: Lave and Wenger (1991); Brown and Duguid (1991); Wenger (2003); and Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002). Ideas presented in this chapter focus on those developed by Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002), as they have developed the concept of communities of practice by linking it with professional or work-based communities.

  • 1 - Introduction

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 1-14

  • Summary

    The aim of this chapter is to introduce blended learning in the context of information and library services (ILS), and also to introduce the book and its structure. Following this introduction, the chapter considers the following topics: teaching and training in the 21st century; what is blended learning?; and the structure of the book.

    The aim of the book is to provide a practical guide to library and information workers who are involved in education and training, and who are interested in designing and delivering blended learning experiences to their colleagues and customers. The term ‘blended learning’ has risen in popularity from around 2000 and, in the context of this book, it is used to mean a holistic approach to learning that involves a blend of different approaches, e.g. face-to-face and e-learning, the use of different technology-based tools, or the blending of classroom-based and work-based learning. This is explored in more detail in the next section.

    One of the challenges of writing this book is that this is a rapidly developing field so my focus is on providing the underpinning theories behind good-quality blended learning and a range of practical examples. In addition, I consider some of the many challenges currently faced by ILS staff, including the need to work with very large groups and also with diverse groups. In taking this approach, I hope that this book will provide a useful resource for both experienced practitioners and those who are relatively new to the design and delivery of blended learning. I also consider project management in the context of the design and delivery of new or adapted blended learning programmes. Many ILS establish projects, sometimes using external funding, as a means of developing their education and training provision. The chapter on project management (Chapter 9) provides a practical overview to this subject using examples from current practice.

    I have based this book on information and knowledge gained from:

  • • my experiences in the design and delivery of traditional training programmes, e-learning programmes and also blended learning programmes

  • • discussions with colleagues working in ILS

  • • feedback from colleagues who have attended my workshops (based at CILIP) and ILS conferences

  • • visits (both real and virtual) to a wide range of ILS

  • • professional networks and conferences, and also the literature.

  • 3 - Models of teaching and learning

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 47-70

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of those theories of learning that are particularly relevant to blended learning. This is an important topic, as understanding the theoretical ideas that underpin learning enables librarians and information workers to design, develop and deliver effective blended programmes and activities. In addition, library and information workers may be involved in working in partnership with colleagues who have a different understanding of learning and teaching; consequently, understanding different pedagogies is sometimes very helpful when working in multi-disciplinary teams.

    Learning is a complex and messy business, and it is difficult to summarize learning theories without risking over-simplifying the topic. In addition, although the topics presented in this chapter are organized under separate headings there is much overlap between different ideas. The first topic considers the context of learning, i.e. the physical, virtual and social environments in which learning and teaching takes place. The context of learning helps to shape the types of learning processes that occur and may contribute to motivating or de-motivating learners (and also tutors). This is followed by a section that considers individual approaches to learning by presenting two different approaches to individual learning styles. There is an active debate about the value of the concept of learning styles and some of the research in this area is vigorously critiqued. Learning styles are included here because the concept is widely used in many educational institutions. In addition, it provides a valuable metaphor for thinking about individual approaches to learning and one that enables tutors to understand the need to provide a varied learning experience.

    The next section provides a brief overview of teacher- or tutor-centred approaches to learning and teaching. Increasingly, education and training providers, and also individual tutors, are moving from a tutor-centred to a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning. Learner-centred approaches to teaching and learning are explored in more depth, including the idea that knowledge is socially constructed and learning is socially situated. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of a range of specific approaches to teaching and learning that are commonly associated with blended learning and these include action learning, inquiry-based learning (including problem-based learning, project-based learning and work-based learning) and reflective practice.

  • 4 - Planning and designing blended learning programmes

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 71-98

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance on the design and development of blended learning programmes. Library and information workers are frequently involved in the development of blended learning programmes and they may be working with ILS colleagues or in multi-professional teams.

    This chapter is divided into five main sections. The first section provides an overview of the design and development cycle, and this is followed by sections that consider: developing a blended learning experience including the use of learning objects and developing detailed documentation; technical issues; copyright and other intellectual property issues; and, finally, delivery and evaluation.

    Design and development cycle

    Spending time on the design and development cycle enables you to focus on developing a blended learning experience that is responsive to the learners and their needs. It enables you to explore and design a programme that provides an appropriate combination of the features of blended learning programmes that were first presented in Chapter 1 and are repeated here:

  • • time, e.g. synchronous or asynchronous learning activities and communications

  • • place where learning occurs, e.g. on campus, in workplace, at home

  • • different information and communication technologies (ICTs), e.g. CD/DVD, first-generation internet technologies, social-networking software or Web 2.0, or new developing technologies

  • • context of learning, e.g. academic or workplace

  • • pedagogy, e.g. tutor- or student-centred, behaviourist or constructivist

  • • focus, e.g. aims of learning process presented by tutors or aims negotiated and agreed by individuals, groups or communities

  • • types of learner, e.g. learners with different roles, such as student or practitioners, or multi-disciplinary or professional groupings of learners and teachers

  • • relationships with others in the learning process, e.g. individual learning, group learning, or development of a learning community.

    • The design and development process for a blended learning programme is cyclical and involves five stages (Figure 4.1):

    Each of these stages is considered in detail below. Whether the blended learning project is a major one that will run over a number of years and involve a multiprofessional project team and hundreds of students or a small-scale project involving an individual information worker, the project leader will need to work through the design and development cycle.

  • 9 - Managing blended learning projects

  • Barbara Allan
  • Book:
    Blended Learning
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    10 October 2007, pp 201-222

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Many library and information workers are involved in managing or working on projects that design, develop and implement blended learning programmes. For example, they may be involved in the development of reusable learning objects, of a new website or portal, or of interactive training materials.

    Project management is a key transferable skill (Milner 2007) and it is essential for library and information workers to be able to manage projects and to work effectively within project teams. This chapter provides guidance on project management and covers the following topics: principles of project management; the people side of project management; working in collaborative and multi-professional teams; obtaining financial support; and gaining accreditation for your programme.

    Principles of project management

    There is an extensive literature on project management. Allan (2004) provides a detailed guide set in the context of ILS, and more general textbooks include Maylor (2003) and Lockyer and Gordon (2005). In addition, funding bodies such as the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) provide guidance on project management (www.jisc.ac.uk) and projects that are funded by this body will need to use their guidelines and documentation processes.

    The traditional project management literature developed from research and practice in industry and military projects and, as a result, offers an approach that is embedded in the scientific management field. These traditional approaches to project management tend to be concerned with splitting the project into its constituent parts and then managing and controlling the project process in a rather top-down, authoritarian manner. While it is important to approach project management in an organized and logical manner, it is also important to appreciate the importance of people and the management of the relationships aspect of a project.

    How does project work differ from the day-to-day work in a library or information department? The characteristics of projects include:

  • • having a definite start and end date

  • • being unique and novel to the people involved in the project

  • • having limiting factors, e.g. time, resources

  • • having outcomes that usually result in change

  • • having a single point of responsibility.

    • If you are involved in a new project, the first question to ask is ‘How complex is the project?’ Extremely complex projects require the use of project management tools and techniques whereas relatively simple projects can be managed with a plan written on a single sheet of A4 paper.

  • 7 - Search usability

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 75-88

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ The importance of search usability

    ■ Options for presenting search results

    ■ Three case studies of excellence in search usability

    Supporting information discovery

    Usability is a measure of the ease with which someone can make use of a system to undertake specific tasks. Over the last few years there has been a very significant increase in the level of interest in usability as organizations strive to get the best returns out of their investment in websites.

    Among the elements of usability are:

  • ■ Functionally correct – the system allows the user to undertake the task

  • ■ Efficient to use – the time and/or number of clicks that are taken to perform the task

  • ■ Easy to learn – the task requires only a few clicks and advice is provided (or is available) to assist the process

  • ■ Easy to remember – the system does not tax the human memory

  • ■ Error tolerant – the user is never left at a dead end and there are routines that track problems as they arise and enable designers to take remedial action

  • ■ Subjectively pleasing – users want to use the system because of the overall ‘feel’ of the site and the way in which it reacts to their requirements.

    • Although there is a vast literature on usability testing there is very little advice on usability issues regarding search. Even the normally invaluable Useit website from Jakob Nielsen has only a few comments on search among the several hundred other entries. Probably the best general resource on the design of search pages is the much-expanded chapter on search in the third edition of Morville and Rosenfeld's Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, and Jenifer Tidwell's book on designing interfaces is also a valuable resource.

    Search in particular has to be a dialogue, because of the need for the search engine to assist the visitor/user to determine what they already know and then how they wish to proceed with the next stage of the search. The page navigation on a site is more about presenting terms that the visitor/user will be familiar with as a starting point, and then supporting working down through some form of hierarchy to find the information required. This is, of course, a simplistic view of navigation versus search, and elsewhere in this book the point has been made that search and navigation must be complementary.

  • 4 - Making a business case for search

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 41-48

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ What are the hardware, software and staff requirements?

    ■ Understanding total cost of implementation

    ■ Using risk management to make a business case

    Introduction

    It is not easy to build a business case for investing in search applications. The benefits of a search engine are very difficult to measure, even though there is good evidence from surveys that searching for information is timeconsuming and often frustrating. In the case of content management software applications often relatively standard processes are being undertaken on a regular basis. Search is not like that. Implementing a search engine may reduce the time spent on searching for information, but in most organizations that is not a measurable quantity. As with most productivity tools, is the time freed up then used for other tasks, or is it still used for searching but now over a wider range of documents and with increasing care being taken to find the most relevant?

    When implementing content management software, many companies have found that the costs of professional support from the vendor or systems integrator are considerably more than the base licence cost. However, once the implementation has been accomplished the staff costs associated with maintaining the software are quite low. This is not the case with search software, where there will be a continual requirement to optimize its performance.

    This is also the hidden cost of using open source software. Although the use of open source software is still very low in enterprise applications, there are many open source products that can be used for website searching, where in many respects the requirements are less demanding.

    One of the standard approaches to justifying investment in software is a return on investment (ROI) analysis. Generally speaking, only in the professional services sector is time logged and costed on a sufficiently normalized basis for a case to be made about the impact of productivity tools. Even then, trying to build a business case that will satisfy an accountant is a major challenge.

    Chapters 9 and 10 cover some of the issues that need to be considered when making a business case for investment in search for a website and for an intranet, but this chapter sets out some generic issues about the development of a business case.

  • 12 - Multilingual search

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 127-134

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ Why multilingual search is so difficult

    ■ The value of Unicode

    ■ The problems of transliteration

    Searching the Tower of Babel

    The issues concerning searching in multiple languages are often poorly understood, and yet the need to be able to do so is going to be increasingly important. Research from Byte Level Research (http://bytelevel.com) indicates that the majority of internet users are not native-English speakers.

    From the perspective of website search, this means that there may be a considerable number of visitors searching the site who may have only a limited range of synonyms and linguistic awareness. This is not just on a cross-national basis. It is estimated that over 300 languages are spoken in London alone, though this is probably the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Clearly, in the period up to the 2008 Olympic Games, the growth in Chinese users is considerable.

    The management of multiple languages also needs to be carefully considered in the enterprise environment. Just because an organization has English as its global corporate language does not mean to say that all documents will be in English. Documents relating to staff contracts and policies, and contracts with local suppliers, will invariably be in local languages. Patents and other legal documents will also be in more than one language, and if any one individual user is to have global access to the resources of the organization, the problems of how to search in a language-independent way as regards both the language skills of the searcher and the languages of the documents need to be addressed.

    Searching multiple languages

    Many search engines claim to be able to search in multiple languages, but care must be taken over just what this means. It usually means that the search engine can parse a document written in a wide range of languages, create an index, and then run a query against that index to present a number of relevant documents. Although not easy to undertake, this is now quite well developed technology and uses Unicode to convert a language to a standardized (or rather normalized) format. This enables a search to be carried out using a query in the destination language.

Making Search Work
  • Implementing Web, Intranet and Enterprise Search
  • Martin White
  • Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007
  • 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.

  • 5 - Specifying and selecting a search engine

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 49-64

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ Using personas to develop a specification

    ■ The critical role that a document audit plays in search selection

    ■ IT systems architecture issues

    ■ The stages of the selection process

    Introduction

    The basic principles of specifying and selecting search software are the same as for any other category of software, including a clear identification of the business need, and defining user requirements. However, with search software the process of defining user requirements is more complex, because:

  • ■ There is a range of tasks that the search software will be supporting.

  • ■ There is unlikely to be any previous experience of specifying search software.

  • ■ Specifying the performance of search software involves both hardwarerelated elements (which are relatively easy to specify) and user-related elements that are much more difficult to specify.

  • ■ The performance will be highly specific to a specific collection, or collections, of documents.

    • Indeed, where there is currently no search feature, or at best very limited search functionality, there can be some substantial issues in developing a specification against which to evaluate the search products. For example, at least one search vendor requires information about the number of searches to be conducted in order to scale the hardware for the system.

    Using personas to specify user requirements

    The use of personas to specify user requirements for websites and intranets is now well established, and there is a considerable literature on how to undertake persona development.

    A persona is a real virtual user. The ‘person’ described does not actually exist, but is created through research to typify some of the characteristics of a group of users. Biographical details are developed, even down to a photograph, so that the persona is so ‘real’ that the web team or intranet team start to identify with them as individual members of staff or as visitors to the website.

    The main characteristics of personas are as follows:

  • ■ Personas are hypothetical archetypes, or ‘stand-ins’ for actual users, that assist in defining and prioritizing user requirements.

  • ■ Personas are not real people, but represent real people throughout the specification process, and are defined in sufficient detail to create the illusion that they are real people.

  • ■ Personas are defined by the tasks they undertake, not by the organizational structure.

  • 11 - Enterprise search

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 113-126

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ An introduction to enterprise search

    ■ Technology and implementation issues

    ■ A ten-step procedure that will ensure effective enterprise search implementation

    Introduction

    The term ‘enterprise’ tends to be widely used in the IT industry to signify a high-performance software application for use by Fortune 500-type companies. Over the last few years there has been much discussion about what the difference is between a web content management application and an enterprise content management (ECM) application. The same applies to the search business, although, in common with ECM applications, there is the sense that these solutions are designed primarily to work behind the corporate firewall.

    The concept of enterprise search is to be able to locate information from any specified server/application, which may include not only internal servers but also external information services. This information might be held in:

  • ■ unstructured text files (e.g. web and intranet sites, record and document management systems, e-mail servers)

  • ■ structured relational databases (e.g. finance systems, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management)

  • ■ video and image collections (e.g. digital asset management, video conference recordings, video training)

  • ■ specialized collections (e.g. project management applications, engineering and architectural drawings, maps, geospatial data, genomic databases).

    • This list is very incomplete, and of course the complexity is increased quite substantially by the extent of language diversity. In many enterpriselevel applications the two languages are UK English and American English, and although there are no issues of transliteration and translation, the problems of synonym management (e.g. gas rather than petrol) are very substantial. It does not help that few organizations would have an accurate list of all the database applications and servers that might contain information broadly relevant to the totality of the enterprise.

    Another issue with the term ‘enterprise’ is that it has a connotation of a for-profit organization. The reality is that all organizations are an enterprise when it comes to specifying a search solution.

    In many organizations the requirement for enterprise search starts with the need to provide an effective search solution for an intranet. It is often when implementing an intranet search solution that the organization realizes that employees would benefit from access to a wider range of information applications, and then finds that the intranet solution is not adequately scalable in power or extensible in functionality to provide an enterprise search solution.

  • 3 - The search business

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 31-40

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    How big is the search market?

    ■ The impact of Google, Microsoft and IBM

    ■ What is a search appliance?

    ■ The benefits of a hosted search application

    ■ Profiles of over 50 search vendors

    The market for search

    The challenge for the software industry is to develop robust and effective software products based on the principles set out in Chapter 2. Until the launch of the CMS Watch Enterprise Search Report the search business was very poorly documented and understood, unless the organization subscribed to services from companies such as Gartner, IDC and Forrester. The Enterprise Search Report was written by Steve Arnold and contains detailed evaluations of around 30 search products. The level of detail in the report, both on the basic technology of search and in the features of the main search engine applications, is substantial and is essential reading.

    The search business is very fragmented, and compared to other software markets not very large in sales of standalone search products. In March 2006 the Gartner Group estimated that sales of new search software licences would total just under $370 million. The total revenues of the search software vendors is probably around twice this amount thanks to the support, maintenance and upgrade fees charged to existing customers, so that the total market value is perhaps around $700 million. Autonomy (including revenues from Verity) probably accounts for around 45% of this revenue, and Fast Search and Google for a further 20%. These figures can be no more than estimates, as many of the companies profiled below are privately owned and disclose little or no financial information. For example, one major search vendor announced in November 2006 that it had a 109% year-on-year revenue growth in the third quarter. This is certainly impressive, but no mention was made about the profitability of the company.

    Over the last couple of years there have been some acquisitions in the industry, but only the Autonomy/Verity deal involved two quoted companies. Triple Hop was acquired by Oracle in September 2005, and a couple of months later IBM bought iPhrase, in both cases for undisclosed amounts.

  • Foreword

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp xi-xii

  • Summary

    Why do you need a book about search? Isn't search easy? A searcher enters some text into a box, clicks a button, and hey presto! – all the pertinent information appears in a nice handy list. Google made it simple; why can't your company do the same?

    It turns out that effective search is complicated – and hard. Ask any enterprise knowledge manager, website owner, e-commerce director, or, really, any fellow employee, ‘Are you satisfied with your search engine?’ The responses will catalogue a litany of woes: ‘It gives the wrong answers’; ‘We don't understand how it works’; ‘It doesn't find all of our information’; ‘It's slow’; ‘The results are cluttered and irrelevant.’

    This is often followed by the almost inevitable kicker: ‘We're investigating new search technology to fix it.’

    Yet technology is rarely the problem. Although people have been searching electronic information for more than four decades, search as a discipline remains quite young. You have significant choices about what technologies to apply and how to deploy them. Security, usability, scalability, and information architecture all present complicated, but important, challenges. Enterprises that succeed at search address these challenges as an ongoing process rather than a discrete technology project.

    That's why you need this book.

    I can think of no one better than Martin White to create a businessperson's guide to good search practices. As a search expert of global repute (and outlook!), Martin has taken the time and care to condense a complicated topic into an easy read. There are a variety of different technical approaches to search in the marketplace, but this book is essential to any search manager.

  • 6 - Optimizing search performance

  • Martin White
  • Book:
    Making Search Work
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    18 March 2007, pp 65-74

  • Summary

    In this chapter:

    ■ The parameters of search engine performance

    ■ Search engine tuning

    ■ Using web analytics software

    ■ Data privacy issues

    Introduction

    The previous chapter outlined the elements that go to make up a search application, whether for a website or an enterprise. A major challenge for the organization is then to make sure that the entire system works as effectively as possible. For better or worse, Google has set some standards for search performance, but these are mainly in terms of systems performance and the time taken to run a query against an index of the spidered web. Users of websites in particular, but also users of enterprise search applications, use Google as a benchmark when judging search performance.

    Optimizing search performance requires attention to be paid to three different but related areas:

  • ■ the performance of the search system

  • ■ the usability of the search application

  • ■ the extent to which the search provides the information being sought.

    • Search system performance

    Some search vendors display the time taken to undertake a search as a metric of search performance. Obviously system response speed is important, but it is doubtful whether the user actually cares how long it took so long as it took no longer than they expected, even though they would not be able to specify in tenths of a second how long that is. Among the factors that need to be tracked on a regular basis are:

  • ■ average response time for different types of query (which requires a definition of query types)

  • ■ average time taken to retrieve and then present individual documents or groups of documents from each server

  • ■ time taken to update the indexes (measured in megabytes per hour).

    • The initial indexing can be quite a prolonged exercise. A representative time might be of the order of 10 Gb/hour. Subsequent updates to this will be much quicker.

    In an enterprise application the system response times for queries and document presentation are determined by the organization's server/network architecture. This may vary with the time of day, the day of the week and many other factors, because certainly as far as the network is concerned the latency will be affected by other activities taking place over it.

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