Q:  What are the currently available search methodologies that are
available and what is on the horizon?

At the heart of google.com is a very robust and effective search
methodology that bases results on a ranking system.  I would like to
take this concept one step further and apply it to a database that
will house textual data, as opposed to data stored in discrete fields.
 While querying the data in discrete yes/no type fields may be simple,
I want to know more about the other search technologies that exist
that will allow a more robust, natural language format kind of like
the “askjeeves” logic only better.  More specifically, I do NOT want
to know about ordinary key-word searches, as this is not unique.  I
want to know about technologies that might employ heuristic rules
based logic, fuzzy logic, or some type of artificial intelligence that
will allow a user to ask a detailed question and have it search a
database of textual content and return a ranked result with increased
accuracy.

What companies or people are researching these types of technology? 
Please provide a description of their ability, and if they have a
commercially viable and deployable solution.

Hello sjjrxprn-ga:

It was a pleaure to answer your question. Before commenting on your
question, I will like you to read one of my answers to a similar
question posted by another customer. The answer sheds light on the
revolutionary new search technologies that might change the future of
search engines. Here is the link:

http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=137966

I will also like to add some insight into the question.

There is another search technology that I will like you to see:

W3C Web Consortium ( http://www.w3.org )

It is one of the most innovative project of its kind. Since its
inception in 1994, Scientists at several computer companies and at
some of the world's top universities -- the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology , the University of Chicago, Kyoto University and Stanford
University -- are independently collaborating on the project, which is
led by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The aim of the project is
to develop a new search technology that will meet the futuristic
demand of web searchers.

Another technology was being developed by Kaltic Team of researchers
at Stanford. Google acquired Kaltix to increase the performance of its
search engine. You can find out more on the web by typing 'Kaltix
search engine.'

____________________________________________

IBM AND MICROSOFT
____________________________________________

IBM and Microsoft are trying very hard to overcome Google by
implementing logic based searh engines. Prime examples are UIMA
technology by IBM and various technologies by Microsoft. Here is a
preview:

UIMA Technolgy by IBM

Using a combination of artificial intelligence techniques, IBM's UIMA
(Unstructured Information Management Architecture) is tackling the
problem of understanding
unstructured data. 

UIMA uses what officials call a "combination hypothesis" to deliver
knowledge and understanding to bulk amounts of unstructured data. The
combination of technologies solves a search problem by using them in
unison in a kind of brute-force attack.

RELATED ARTICLES

http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,3048,a=46085,00.asp
http://www.computer.org/computer/homepage/0303/briefs/?SMSESSION=NO
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-981256.html?tag=fd_lede2_hed

MICROSOFT Futuristic Technologies

Link to an Article

http://news.com.com/2100-1012-997350.html
_______________________________________________

BEST SOURCE OF NEWS
______________________________________________

The best source of search engine technology is at
http://www.searchenginewatch.com . Its 'Search Engine Technology'
section provides the most comprehensive articles and news of its kind
anywhere on the web.

LINK TO THE SECTION

http://www.searchenginewatch.com/resources/article.php/2156601
 
Another useful Article

ARTICLES REVEALING NEXT GENERATION SEARCH ENGINES

http://www.newarchitectmag.com/documents/s=7766/na0103a/index.html

_______________________________________________

A sample of Useful Search criteria

'future search technologies'
'new search technologies'

Other Useful Keywords

'search engine technology'

I hope this helps. Please clarify, if you are not satisfied. I will be
obliged to help you.

Sincerely,
leader-ga.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by sjjrxprn-ga on 15 Oct 2003 03:37 PDT

Very good answer.  Your link to your post from back in January was
very helpful and a good overview.  But can you clarify more about
companies that currently have or have intentions of providing a
commercially viable and deployable solution?  For example, if I have a
huge database of "flat" textual data that is not categorized (think of
these as webpages), as opposed to a normalized database with data
inside discrete fields - can I purchase or license technology?

I recall reading that google will sell you a server that will "spider"
all of your webpages on a corporate network, and then you can say that
your corporate site is "powered by google" - is this accurate?  do
they still do this?  please elaborate or provide links on this
service.

what other companies provide this type of service and who are the
leaders in this market?

Thank you

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 15 Oct 2003 08:08 PDT

Hello sjjrxprn-ga:

Thanks for clarifying. Yes, it is true that you can be licensed a
Google appliance (server)that will spider all of your database
contents. That is precisely why you have seen so many websites with
"Powered by Google" sign. Depending on your needs, there are certain
categories to choose from. You will get a detailed information at the
following link:

://www.google.com/appliance/

You can find other enterprise solutions like this by typing the
keyword
'enterprise search solutions' in the Google. Assuming that you already
know about this, let me come to the point.

There are some revolutionary enterprise search solutions that may
change the future of search. The most noteable being, the Insightful
enterprise search solution which is trying to integrate human
interaction based search methodology. More information is available at
INSIGHTFUL SLOUTIONS
http://www.insightful.com/news_events/release.asp?RID=112
OR http://www.insightful.com

Other noteable future technology may come from Norwegian company Fast
Search. You can find information about its enterprise search solution
at http://www.fastsearch.com/index.php/us/

Another noticeable enterprise solution is Convera at
http://www.convera.com. Read a press report on this new solution at
http://www.convera.com/Press/pr_063003.asp

I hope this will help. Thanks again. Be advised that I am here to work
with you. Please clarify, if needed.

Thanks,
leader-ga.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by sjjrxprn-ga on 24 Oct 2003 23:27 PDT

Dear leader ga - lately I have been reading a lot about "collaborative
filtering" and companies like ChoiceStream that provide content based
on user preferences.  I am looking for similar applications or
companies that might be applying this technolgy to applications
withing the medical profession, particularly Medical Informatics or
Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE).

If this represents a new question, just let me know approx $ and I
will post a new one - I wanted to give you a chance to answer. 
(sjjrxprn AT mail.com)

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 25 Oct 2003 06:44 PDT

Thanks sjjrxprn-ga:

I would really like to answer this question but I am not sure about
the price. It depends on the scope of the question, itself. But again,
I will like to provide my service at a minimal cost to you.

Here is what we are going to do. You may post the question as a
comment here and I will get back to you on the price. If accepted, you
may post the question on Google Answers by stating something like 'For
leader-ga' etc. I will start working on the question form there
onwards.

Another clarification. You can expect a quick response from me, as
this week, I will mostly be online working on the questions.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,
leader-ga.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by sjjrxprn-ga on 25 Oct 2003 12:40 PDT

ok -here is the question

 I was wondering if you know of any companies within the medical IT
arena that are leading the market in advanced searching and medical
decision making algorithms, particularly in the way of collaborative
filtering – the same technology that amazon uses to recommend books to
users based on a profile.  The reason I became interested in this, in
the WSJ last week they discussed this technology with respect to a
company called ChoiceStream (www.choicestream.com) – and figured there
might be someone out there  applying this to medical IT.

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 25 Oct 2003 16:46 PDT

Hello: 

Thanks for the clarification. Here what I will do. I will search the
answer for
you and post it right here for your review. 

If you like it my response, you may than post a question something of
this sort, 'for leader-ga'. I will post my comment on to that question
to get my price.

I will say a $25 would be a fair price as I might have to dig a little
deeper fot this.

If my answer is incomplete or you are not satisfied, we will just
leave it as a comment, here. Thanks Again

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 27 Oct 2003 06:33 PST

Hello sjjrxprn-ga:

I have worked on your question. I will post my answer shortly for your review.

Thanks,
leader-ga.

---

Clarification of Answer by leader-ga on 28 Oct 2003 09:39 PST

Hello sjjrxprn-ga: 

I found certain companies that might fulfil your requirements. As far
as I know, all of these use decision making algorithms to develop
their software applications. After reviewing their websites and the
type of applications that they offer, I have come to the conclusion
that most of the software must be using ‘calloborative filterig’ as
the functions that some of them provide are not possible without it.

I know a few more companies but before providing you their names and
other useful websites, I just wanted to get your opinion i.e. if this
is something that you are looking for?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Leader-ga.

Company: Open Clinical
Website: http://www.openclinical.org

Summary: The company is known to be one of the poineers in the
research and development of the knowledge management software in the
medical field. Most of its software integrate the decision support
systems. According to its website, The company’s mission is, “to
promote decision support, clinical workflow and other knowledge
management technologies in patient care and clinical research.” It is
a non-profit organisation based in UK and funded by Cancer research
society. It’s softwares are readily available in the market. For a
list of its research and availble technology, please refer to
http://www.openclinical.org/research.html.

Massachusatts Medical Laboratory at the Computer Science Department
(Harvard University)
Website: http://www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu

Summary: The activities of this exclusive group are well known in the
modern sceintific field. But, what attracted my attention was the use
of decision making algorithms in its research. Currently, the
scientists at the center are working on a Decision support system that
might be using the ‘calloborative filtering’ technology. It is known
as DXPlain and is in the process of continuous development.

Company: Prodigy
Website: http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk

Summary: Prodigy uses the power of artificial intelligence to provide
decioson making software to the medical profession. With its advanced
technology and research methods, Prodigy has developed many advanced
applications that have been on the forefront of the medical decision
making process. There are various projects which are still under
development.

Company: Micro Stratagy
Website: http://www.microstrategy.com

Summary: Micro Stratagy has implemented various business intelligence
applications for a wide variety of businesses. ‘Healthcare’ and
‘Pharmacuetical’ units of this company have made ‘intelligent’
applications available to the industry. For more information on these
units, please refer to:
http://www.microstrategy.com/Solutions/ByIndustry/Healthcare.asp
http://www.microstrategy.com/Solutions/ByIndustry/Pharma.asp

Company:  Data Mining Technologies Inc.
Website: http://www.data-mine.com

Summary: According to its website, “Data Mining Technologies Inc.
(DMT), provides knowledge management and decision support software and
services for data warehouse/business intelligence applications
pertaining to Internet e-commerce and direct marketing, healthcare,
and financial services.”
The company has helped decision making process by implementing its
solutions in the fields of healthcare and biotechnology. It has
invented its own technology known as ‘Nuggets’ that is unique in the
usage of artificial intelligence.

Company: TheraDoc
Website: http://www.theradoc.com

Summary: TheraDoc develops software for the medical profession that
use deciosion support systems. Most of the software available for the
doctors help them in the clinical decision making process. The team
consist of experienced researchers who have been instrumental in
developing such techniques. Its software is widely used within the
medical profession.

Company: Megaputer 
Website: http://www.megaputer.com

Summary: Megaputer is the leading software companies in the world that
usees ‘data mining’ as a research tool to develop advanced softwares
for the world. It’s ‘data mining’ technology is being extensively used
by ‘Fortune 500’ companies and many multi-million companies around the
world. Its client’s include many healthcare and bio technology firms.

Company: Logical Images
Website: http://www.logicalimages.com

Summary: Logical Images has been helping its medical clients to make
better decisions harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. It’s
medical applications use decision making process to not only help
diagnose a disease but also provide various alternatives to the health
care professionals.

Great job.  Well worth the $$ and he was very qualified to answer my
question, having answered a similar one previously.