Search and Navigation

Search is a solution area that is most often connected to the Semantic Web technology. Why is that?

• HTML and HTTP standards enabled people to link and navigate between different documents on the internet and intranet.
• RDF, OWL and other Semantic Web standards make it possible to link and navigate between different datasets including disparate databases, spreadsheets, RSS feeds and semantically marked up information in the HTML pages. The linkages between data elements across multiple data sources can be described in the way that computer programs can understand and act on the different types of links.

For search this means that using the Semantic Web technology we can:

• Answer search queries that could only be addressed by connecting the multiple sources of information
• Bring together structured and unstructured information when responding to the query
• Navigate between and discover relationships in the different sources of information
• Define searches in the business terms

Consider the following example. An executive search firm wants to find the "largest" person they know in the banking industry:

• Information on people, companies they work and their salaries comes from their internal database
• Information on market capitalization of the various companies comes from Hoovers
• Information on the industry sector of the company can come from the US Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Business rules on who is considered small, medium, large and huge are defined by the firm based on the person’s position, salary, size of the company and the industry sector

With all the information merged together, a power full business search is now possible. Results can also bring back for each person recent news about them mined from the traditional internet search.

TopQuadrant’s Search and Navigation solution combines:

• Training and mentoring on the applications of Semantic Web technology
• Planning, modeling and implementation services
• TopBraid Composer – a modeling tool for developing custom ontologies and connecting to the enterprise data sources
• TopBraid Ensemble – a collaborative environment for managing Enterprise Vocabularies
• TopBraid Live – a deployment platform for semantic web applications
• Faceted Search module -  ready to use web application for faceted navigation
• Integration with the leading text search and mining products such as Lucene

For more information contact us at (703) 299-9330 or solutions@topquadrant.com