Google in the World of Academic Research
April 5, 2012
Librarians, teachers, and college professors all press their students not to use Google to research their projects, papers, and homework, but it is a dying battle. All students have to do is type in a few key terms and millions of results are displayed. The average student or person, for that matter, is not going to scour through every single result. If they do not find what they need, they simply rethink their initial key words and hit the search button again.
The Hindu recently wrote about, “Of Google and Scholarly Search,” the troubles researchers face when they only use Google and makes several suggestions for alternate search engines and databases.
Google has tried to combat their “low academic quality” results with Google Scholar and Annotum. Google Scholar is the equivalent of a regular academic database, except they don’t always return full text articles. Annotum takes a different approach by changing the search configuration all together. It is a scholarly blog platform, where experts can share their knowledge without being bogged down by personal opinion, rants, and other social networking content (Annotum was preceded by Knol, but Google is eliminating that service).
There are other tools to help the wayward researcher. The search engines Hakia, Kngine, Sensebot, and DuckDuckGo use semantic search technology instead of the usual Google formula. While they are not strictly research search engines, they do provide you with a more logical approach to search than returning every web site where the key term pops up. One semantic search engine that eliminates the usual everyman search is Deepdyve. You won’t be able to look for pop culture references with it, but it will give you more authoritative sources than Google.
If one needs information specifically on the sciences, Web of Science and SciVerce ScienceDirect are university -approved databases that host millions of articles from scientific journals, abstracts, track research data, and connect with other researchers. Another topic that is of current interest in the IT world is patents. Google, Apple, and Microsoft are all racing to create the next big technological craze, but they research patents to make sure their competitors haven’t gotten there first. Micropatent, SumoBrain, and Relecura are the top patent databases on the web used by industry and business heads.
While Google may provide the easiest way to access information, it is hardly the best for research. Use the above search engines and web sites to improve research quality and not just receive quantity from Google.
Whitney Grace, April 5, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Amazon Web Services Explained
April 2, 2012
You can make the Amazon cloud work for you if you attend to the type of information we found here; Digg presents “Cracking the Cloud: an Amazon Web Services Primer.” The article notes:
It’s safe to say that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become synonymous with cloud computing; it’s the platform on which some of the Internet’s most popular sites and services are built. But just as cloud computing is used as a simplistic catchall term for a variety of online services, the same can be said for AWS—there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you might think.
Writer Matthew Braga goes on to elaborate in detail on the workings of AWS. He defines and explains Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2), Elastic Load Balance (ELB), Elastic Block Storage (EBS), and Simple Storage Service (S3). Braga emphasizes that these are just the core components, and that there are many other features of AWS that he doesn’t have space to cover here. What he does describe, though, is quite useful information for the tech reader.
Cynthia Murrell, April 2, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Arc: People Search Service
April 2, 2012
We’ve found a new people search called Ark, designed to help you find people even if you don’t yet know their names. TechCrunch suggests, “Find Everyone You Can’t Google or Facebook with YC’s Ark People Search.”
Ark uses customized filters to supply lists of potential contacts. Writer Josh Constine explains:
Rather than first typing someone’s name, Ark gives you a selection of filters to whittle down the Web’s population. The options go way beyond the standard current city, hometown, employers, and education found on Facebook. There’s also gender, relationship status, and sexual preference to power dating searches; general interests and specific categories such as music and movies to find activity partners; and contact info search by email, phone, and first name to reconnect with people you’ve met.
Ark respects the privacy settings on its indexed networks and only presents public information. It also got approval from Facebook before delving into its data.
Founders Patrick Riley and Yiming Liu derived the concept after envisioning what Google and Facebook could create if they were inclined to work together. Since that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, Riley and Liu decided to step in and build on top of the framework the big wigs put together. The pair got their $250,000 seed money from Y Combinator, Yuri Milner, SV Angel, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Constine posits that, given the talent at Ark, Facebook may just wish to snap up the startup. Maybe, though it is too early to tell just yet.
Cynthia Murrell, April 2, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Want to Be an IBM Content Analytics Professional?
March 23, 2012
Want to be an expert in IBM Content Analytics? Now you can by using Killtest Bundles. EsuYi! recently reported on a cheap and easy way to become certified as an IBM Content Analytics professional in the article “IBM 000-583 Actual Questions.”
According to the article, the 000-583 exam only costs $100 and is an excellent way to become IBM certified. While IBM has set up classes to prepare for the exam, for those who do not have time attend classes there is another option — 000-583 questions.
In addition to having all the answers prepared in a convenient PDF format, the article states:
The Developing with IBM Content Analytics and Search V2.2 000-583 questions and answers help you prepare well for the Certified Enterprise Developer, IBM Specialist, exams. All the possible questions are included in this format are regularly updated by the technical specialists. 000-583 answers to the questions are elaborated in a smarter way by adding illustrations and diagrams.
Now that there are easy tools to get certified, where are those high paying jobs for content analytics experts? I think I will focus on Microsoft SharePoint. The alleged 100 million licenses signal a very large market sector.
Jasmine Ashton, March 23, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SoSlang Crowdsources a Dictionary
March 20, 2012
Here’s a surprising and interesting approach to dictionaries: have users build their own. SoSlang allows anyone to add a slang term and its definition. Beware, though, this site is not for everyone. Entries can be salty. R-rated, even. You’ve been warned.
The site’s About page presents this description:
“So Slang is an un-complicated online slang dictionary which is contributed and edited by thousands of people online just like you. Unlike formal dictionaries, you can add your own meaning to millions of words.
“With more than 6 million definitions, So Slang is the biggest hub for street definitions of each and every word in the dictionary. These definitions are added by people all over the world wide web. If you’d like to add a definition, click here.”
Providing easy-to-understand definitions and lots of examples are emphasized. As users add definitions, though, the old ones are not removed; this means some entries have a long list of conflicting definitions. I suppose that’s the nature of slang, though.
If you are even somewhat easily offended, stay away. However, if you’re boggled by a slang expression you overheard, this may be the place to turn.
Stephen E. Arnold, March 20, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Reference Resource for Big Data Vendors
March 13, 2012
SoftArtisians and Riparian Data have been reporting on a series that examines some of the key players in Boston’s emerging big data scene.
The recent article, “Boston’s Big Datascape, Part 2: Nasuni, VoltDB, Lexalytics, Totutek, Cloudant” is the second in the series and examines five companies who may differ in their growth stages and approach but are similar in their ideology that “big data is the castle, and their tools [are] the keys.”
The article breaks each company down by product, founder, technologies used, target industries, and location.
Tokutek’s mission is to transform the way data is stored and retrieved and deliver a quantum leap in the performance of databases and file systems. The company breakdown was:
“Product: TokuDB brings massive data processing and analysis capabilities to heretofore neglected MySQL. It’s a drop-in replacement for InnoDV that extends the capacity of MySQL databases from GBs to TBs.
Founders: Michael A. Bender, Martín Farach-Colton (ln), Bradley C. Kuszmaul
Technologies used: MySQL, MVCC, ACID, Fractal Tree™ indexing
Target industries: Online Advertising, eCommerce, Social Networking, Mobile Solutions, ePublishing.”
We’re interested to see how this series develops and the innovative new companies that come about from it.
Jasmine Ashton, March 13, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Lady Librarian of Toronto
March 1, 2012
Ah, the good old days. Canada’s The Globe and Mail profiles a powerhouse of a librarian who recently passed away at the age of 100 in “When Lady Librarians Always Wore Skirts and You didn’t Dare Make Noise.” When Alice Moulton began her career, libraries were very different than they are today. Writer Judy Stoffman describes:
“When Alice Moulton went to work at the University of Toronto library in 1942, libraries were forbidding, restricted spaces organized around the near-sacred instrument known as the card catalogue. They were ruled by a chief librarian, always male, whose word was law. Staff usually consisted of prim maiden ladies, dressed in skirts and wearing serious glasses, like the character played by Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life, in the alternate life she would have had without Jimmy Stewart.”
The article is worth reading if only as a profile of a strong woman from a bygone era, but it also paints a portrait of libraries in the 20th Century. Among other things, Stoffman reveals that, in the ‘40s and ‘50s, libraries had a locked room called the “inferno” where the banned books were kept. In the spirit of free access to information, such volumes had been released from captivity by the time Moulton retired.
With the modern-day censorship issues that have emerged online, we would not be surprised if brick-and-mortar libraries experienced a resurgence. They may be back if censorship kicks into high gear and we return to the printed word.
Cynthia Murrell, March 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote Cache
February 25, 2012
We’ve found a useful source of quotations at Dennys Funny Quotes. The site collects quotes on subjects from cats to music videos to politics. Anything, really. The tagline reads:
“Dennys Funny Quotes: Laugh at life, politics, the universe: irreverent, satire, photos, cartoons.”
There really is a lot here, but it is better for browsing than for looking for something specific. It is a real challenge to find anything in particular, as the topic links are scattered around the site rather than presented in a comprehensive list. There is a search field in the upper left, but you’d have to know what is already there to target a search with any accuracy.
Oh, and each click produces a full-page ad you must click past. Annoying. Give it a whirl when you have a few minutes to kill. You might stumble upon the perfect quote to tuck into your pocket for your next social event.
Cynthia Murrell, February 25, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
MapMaking Used to Prevent Public Health Threats
February 10, 2012
Science Blogs recently reported on a new tool that blows Google Maps out of the water in the article, “New Mapping Tools Bring Public Health Surveillance to the Masses.”
According to the article, HealthMap is a team of researchers, epidemiologists and software developers at Children’s Hospital Boston who use online sources to track disease outbreaks and deliver real-time surveillance on emerging public health threats. They also utilize the help of local residents to help with research.
Blogger, Kim Krisberg writes:
“HealthMap, which debuted in 2006, scours the Internet for relevant information, aggregating data from online news services, eyewitness reports, professional discussion rooms and official sources. The result? The possibility to map disease trends in places where no public health or health care infrastructures even exist, Brownstein told me. And because HealthMap works non-stop, continually monitoring, sorting and visualizing online information, the system can also serve as an early warning system for disease outbreaks.”
Mapmaking and public health are hardly strangers. Public health practitioners use maps to guide interventions. Despite the complexity of most disease outbreaks, maps can still help health professionals raise public awareness about prevention and target interventions in ways that make the most of limited resources.
Jasmine Ashton, February 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, January 30 to February 3, 2012
February 6, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how governments are embracing and utilizing big data analytics, especially during this early stage in the 2012 political cycle.
We got a good overall look at the issue from the story, “Government Healthcare and Analytics Make a Good Team,” showed how, as the title implies, this pairing is making some impressive waves in the world.
Another story, “Social Media and Politics Share Big Data Love” showed us how Ron Paul and others have utilized social media to get a better take on the issues.
Finally, the most promising of our stories, “Government Grows Into Big Data Workhorse” shows how governments around the globe could kick start a big data revolution.
Analytics and big data are growing by leaps and bounds. However, it seems as if government can be its best friend and often tries to be so. We’re going to keep chronicling this partnership, because we sense big things on the horizon.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com.
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax, February 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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