Memex Let’s see how surfing history and bookmarks of a community
of users can be exploited to search for information on the Web. Browsers discard
most information sought by users through clicking, unless the information is
deliberately book-marked. Even deliberate bookmarks are stored in a passive and
isolated manner.
A browser-assistant prototype, called Memex, which addresses
this issue, is now in the final stages of development in IIT, Mumbai. It will be
made available from http://memex.cse.iitb.ernet.in
by January 2001. Memex is a repository for both surfing history and bookmarks of
a community of users. It is designed as a browsing assistant for individuals and
groups with focused interests. It blurs the artificial distinction between
browsing history and deliberate bookmarks. The glut of data generated as a
result of Web browsing is analyzed in a number of ways at the individual and
community levels. It is indexed not only by keywords but also according to the
user’s view of topics, which lets the user recall topic-based browsing
contexts by asking questions like— What trails was I following when I was last
surfing about classical music? What are some popular pages related to my recent
trail regarding cycling? What was the URL I visited six months back regarding
compiler optimization at Rice University? What was the Web neighborhood I was
surfing the last time I was looking for resources on classical music? How is my
ISP bill divided into access for work, travel, news, hobby and entertainment?
How does my bookmark folder structure map on to my organization? In a hierarchy
of organizations (say, by region) who are the people who share my interest in
recreational cycling most closely and are not likely to be computer
professionals?
Conclusion
Information foraging is not about keyword level querying.
Tomorrow’s search needs will be more ad-hoc in nature. As this happens and the
Web evolves from a structural Web to a semantic Web, newer ideas and systems
will need to continue the process of innovation. Recent developments, together
with advances in natural language analysis, seem to be leading us in the right
direction.
Soumen Chakrabarti, assistant professor, Department of Computer
Science and Engineering, IIT Mumbai, and H
Guru shyam B E Computer Science student, NSIT, New Delhi Page(s):
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