Answering the Right Questions about Search

摘要

Today the typical mid-sized organization accumulates more information in a week than the whole of mankind did between the years 1 and 1500 A.D. Masses of documents, e-mails, databases, images, audio and video recordings form vast repositories of information assets to be tapped by employees, partners, customers and other stakeholders. Access to such vast stores of information can no longer be ensured by simply launching the browser, going to one's search page and typing a word or two in the hopes of locating one of the oft-required needles from this growing haystack. Search needs far exceed the simple requirement to locate a document with a given word in it. Different companies—and indeed groups and individuals within these companies—have different search and information discovery needs, including the need to move beyond "finding the needle in a haystack" to "connecting the dots" among various pieces of information. In light of this, how should a company go about laying out a search strategy that will be effective across the organization, in line with knowledge management best practices and thus achieve the desired return on investment?