Online Research and the Web:
Order Out of Chaos?
Reva Basch
Online Northwest ‘99
12 February 1999
Lifeboats on the Titanic
Greg Notess www.notess.com
Search Engine Watch www.searchenginewatch.com
Differentiation:
Keeping Up with the Jeeves-es
- Ask Jeeves --
Knowledge base
- Alta Vista -- Ask
AV, RealNames, PhotoFinder, translation
- Northern Light --Custom
Folders, Special Collection
- Excite -- Packaged
answers
- HotBot -- Direct Hit
(top 10 clicks)
Specialized Search Engines
& Guides to Same
Aggregated Sites
- Subject Catalogs --
Yahoo, W3 Virtual Library (vlib.org), Argus Clearinghouse (clearinghouse.net)
- Branded Sites --
Dialog Web/Classic, Dow Jones Interactive, Lexis-Nexis
Universe, IAC Insite Pro (www.informationaccess.com/html/insitepro.htm), Medline (www.nlm.nih.gov)
- Gateways --FedWorld
(www.fedworld.gov), Computers.com, AJR Newslink (ajr.newslink.org), Statistical Resources on the Web (www.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/stats.html)
- Reference -- Yahoo
Reference Collection, Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org/ref/), Virtual Reference Desk (thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/reference/index.html)
- Expert/Guru Sites --
Detwiler Group’s Links for Health and Medical
Industry Research (www.detwiler.com), T.R. Halvorson’s "Good Stuff"
for searchers (www.netins.net/showcase/
trhalvorson/g-stuff/index.html)
Aggregation through Acquisition
- Dialog --> MAID
- IAC --> Gale --> Thomson
- ISI and Derwent --> Thomson
- Engineering Information --> Elsevier
- Desktop Data <--> Individual Inc.
- Excite --> @Home
- GeoCities --> Yahoo
- C|Net --> NBC
- MCI --> WorldCom
- AT&T <--> TCI
- Wired Digital and HotBot --> Lycos
- Compuserve and Netscape --> AOL
- Ingram --> B&N
- b&n.com --> Bertelsmann
- Media Metrix <--> Relevant Knowledge
- Mecklermedia (Internet World)
--> Penton
Predictions
- Indexing / XML
- Bots: The breakdown of
search-and-retrieve?
- Natural language
- Data visualization
- Collaborative filtering
- Ubiquitous computing
Data Visualization
Collaborative Filtering
Ubiquitous Computing
- Embedded systems / Distributed systems
- Nanotechnology (tiny systems)
- Network appliances
- Convergence
- Wireless / Broadband
- Personal technology
- Disintermediation
- Ease of use
The New Web Order
One big database, with new tools to search it:
- XML
- Bots
- Natural Language
- Collaborative filtering
- Visual representation
Ubiquity. Standards. Ease-of-Use.
(c) 1999 Reva Basch