INFORUM 2011

Personalisation, Localisation, Semantic Search: Do They Work?

Author

Karen Blakeman, RBA Information Services, United Kingdom

Documents to download

• Full text

• Presentation

Abstract

Regional and world-wide search engines are battling for market share. Localisation, personalisation and the inclusion of social media are now part of Google and Bing. Both are also implementing aspects of semantic search. But does any of this really work or produce better results? Are any of us who are outside of North America benefitting from these developments or should we be concentrating on regional search tools, specialist search engines and databases? There are some who feel that Google, in particular, is out of control and has gone too far by unilaterally deciding what the user really meant to search for and by automatically including the searcher’s social media connections without consent. This presentation will look at what Google and Bing are implementing now and in the near future, with real life examples, and will discuss the implications for researchers. Do we know how much information search engines and web sites have about us with respect to our online connections and search patterns? How does this affects our results? How can we regain control or is it even possible? What technologies are other search engines and specialist search tools using to deliver results? And what effect does this all have on the way we train and advise our users and customers?

Author's professional CV

Karen Blakeman, RBA Information Services, UK Karen Blakeman is a freelance trainer and consultant providing help and advice on the use of the Internet and electronic information, and on social media and collaborative web tools. She has worked in the information profession since 1978 and became a freelance consultant in 1989. Prior to setting up RBA she worked as a microbiologist at the Colindale Central Public Health Laboratory and then spent ten years in the pharmaceutical and health care industry. She then moved to the international management consultancy group Strategic Planning Associates. Her clients include all sectors, types and sizes of organisation and she takes a very “down to earth” approach to locating and managing electronic information. Karen edits and publishes a monthly, electronic newsletter called Tales from the Terminal Room. Her blog can be found at http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/. She is an Honorary Fellow of CILIP: The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP). In 2002 she received the Information World Review Information Professional of the Year award.