the Web initiated a renaissance in information retrieval systems design and innovation in browsing and sharing organized information spaces. Text-match searches, natural-language approaches, question-and-answer systems, site maps, and visualization all have their proponents and their applications. Antarcti.ca offers a visual approach to mapping large collections of data into an informational, contextually rich environment. Tim Bray, CEO of Antarcti.ca, has been extremely active on the Internet scene for years. As one of the founders of Open Text (one of the earliest text search engines) and a co-inventor of XML (the latest hot standard for content distribution), Tim has been deeply enmeshed in Internet technologies and content architecture. He is convinced that the Internet is a place, and says that "like any other place, we need to have maps. We need to have guidebooks. We need to have pictures. And this company, Antarcti.ca, was founded to draw those maps." THE VISUAL DIMENSION Images can indeed convey certain kinds of information quite well. Comparing several sections of a directory to see which is larger or smaller is much easier with a graphic representation. A map makes heavy use of graphic elements to representall kinds of information, such as size, direction, topography, and a wide variety of other features. It is this kind of visualization and use of imagery that is available from Antarcti.ca's Visual Net product. Antarcti.ca offers an approach to mapping the content of large data sets. It can be applied to any large collection of data that is designed to be shared. It works best with organized content, preferably using a detailed taxonomy. Due to this, Bray expects "the first wave of customers to be in places where either the content is central to everything--e.g., libraries--or the time-value of the customers is very high--e.g., medical or financial professionals.
展开▼
