Knowledge Management Infostation
Search Engine

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The new Knowledge Management (KM) Portal - POlice Working Experience Repository (POWER) - was launched on May 8, 2006. The POWER has four main components: Content Management, Navigation, Search Engine and MyBriefcase. To provide Force members with a better understanding of the new KM portal, the concept and features of the first two components have been introduced in a previous edition of OffBeat, and the module of Search Engine is introduced in this issue.

Search Engine and Navigation make up the major surfing pattern for Internet users. While Navigation enables Force members to retrieve information by browsing through "Topics" and "Formation", the Search Engine is able to identify and rank, and retrieve information from database and webpage that matches the search request of the user. Simply to say, if one knows which database/webpage information is stored at, he or she can use Navigation to retrieve it. However, if a user does not have an idea of which database/webpage they should go to, they can use Search Engine to retrieve results as an alternative.

For a search engine to be more effective, the content management system (CMS) should be systematically designed and developed so as to link the two seamlessly and closely. A framework for the classification and labelling of individual database entries has designed and key words have been identified for use in the CMS. Documents that are stored in the Intranet are identified by a number of key words that are specified by the Content Managers or Editors when uploading or updating entries. A number of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) parameters have been designed to determine the ranking system of retrieved database and webpage entries. Results of the search are presented in ranking order with a link to specific information stored at databases and webpages.

With the advancement of technology, a search engine takes up a more and more important role in the area of information discovery and retrieval. To better understand users' requirements, a focus group has been held and benchmarking against popular and advanced internet search engines have also been conducted with the aim of tailor making the search engine and incorporating key features into the KM Search Engine.

The key features of the new search engine can be summarised using the acronym S.H.A.R.E.S.

S - Statistics: showing the number of results and the most clicked items. Besides, top search keywords will also be displayed as an indicator of the hot topic in the Force.

H - Highlights: the content, in which the matched keywords are stored, will be displayed for users' information. As such, they will have a basic understanding about the result without the need to click into the result and check whether it meets the request or not, which in turn increase the search efficiency. In the near future, the description entered by Editors/Content Managers will be displayed, serving as a summary/gist of content.

A - Advanced Search: besides simply search, the advanced search function enables users to narrow down search results and to weight the search queries they have entered in the query box so as to increase the efficiency and retrieve more relevant results.

R - Related Topic: The search engine, besides presenting the search results, will also display related topics of the search queries for users' reference. With the related topic, users will have a broader understanding about a subject domain and thus they can choose to search for other related items for their research.

E - English and Chinese Characters / Interface: Users of the search engine can enter both English and Chinese characters into query box and retrieve results for them. To suit the preference of different Force members, both English and Chinese interfaces have been provided in the Search Engine.

S - Search Suggestion: To help users find out the terms other Force members are using for the same subject area, the search engine displays the search suggestion as a way to guide users to retrieve results.

"Clustering capability" is a new trend in the Search Engine market, and this technology has also been incorporated into the new Search Engine. Upon the retrieved results being displayed at the search engine interface, users can narrow down searches into different Formations or Topics as required. This serves as a way to help users to retrieve just right information and it also helps users make reference to other results in the same Topic or Formation.

To better understand all the features provided by the Search Engine, you can pay a visit to the Help page in the website. Suggestions can also be made via a suggestion box displayed on the same page.

Should you wish to know more about the Force KM Development, please feel free to contact the KM Help Desk on 2860-6573.