Review: Successful Enterprise Search Management
Categorised under: Book & product reviews, Search tools
Successful Enterprise Search Management
Stephen E. Arnold and Martin White
Every survey has shown that search causes considerable frustration within organisations. As the volume of information grows exponentially, so does the difficulty of delivering an effective search, and user dissatisfaction is reaching record levels.
This book therefore comes just in time. It cuts through the vendor-driven hype around the latest features, and presents a measured approach to understanding and designing search. It is a must for all intranet, web, information management and IT teams who have been tasked with delivering search that works.
The book starts by exploring what is meant by “enterprise search”, and sensibly draws a broad boundary. An overview of the search marketplace also sheds light on the often confusing overlap of products and features.
A lot of meat is then provided on how search works, advanced functionality, and the complexities of security and multilingual support. These sections are worth the price of the book alone, as it is extremely difficult to uncover clear vendor-neutral information on these topics.
Not content to leave it there, the book then outlines a solid methodology for selecting and implementing a search engine, drawing upon the extensive professional experience of the authors. The book concludes with an exploration of search engine design, usability and management.
Both authors have been prolific writers on the topic of search, but this is their best work yet. Highly recommended.
Score: 9/10
Tags: search
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