A REFLECTIVE ARTICLE

A Reflective Article

A Reflective Article

This is a reflective essay about multimedia search engines. The dissertation is comprised of a detailed study about the topic. This paper consists of my reflections while producing a search engine for multimedia files - images, audios and videos written in Java code. This study has provided me a deep insight into the theme of the subject. There are wealth of options available for today's Internet searcher. Computer-driven search engines offer the ultimate in depth of indexing by completely crawling through Websites and compiling full-text databases. Internet directories present a more disseminable record structure by cataloging sites within a hierarchical classification scheme. Giant portal pages are driven by databases with hundreds of millions of entries, in contrast to a range of specialized finding tools, designed to provide comprehensive or quality coverage within limited areas. Other search sites offer variations, combinations, or even compilations of the above types of searching tools. Nowadays, web search engines are starting to present access to multimedia searching, including audio, video and image searching. In this research I examined multimedia search functionality on major general and specialised Web search engines. While developing a new search engine technique, I examined 102 Web search engines to observe: (a) how much Web search engines offer multimedia searching, (b) the type of multimedia search functionality and methods offered, and (c) the supports for a personalisation or customisation which are available as advanced search. Results of my research are: (a) few major Web search engines offer multimedia searching and (b) multimedia Web search functionality is normally limited. My results show that although the increasing level of interest in multimedia Web searches, those few Web search engines offering multimedia Web search, provide limited multimedia search functionality.

While acknowledging that no one search tool is right for all search needs, this paper will analyze the question of what is the best way to index the Internet. Cosmetic concerns over the best user interface design and style will be addressed only insofar as they relate to the actual content representation of the search tools. It is my contention that in order to meet the needs of Internet searchers with the types of human and technological resources currently available, a reliance on human-powered indexing methods - especially the classification and description of documents by topical experts - is and probably will always be necessary. Allowing for the differentiation between the needs of Internet and library searchers, methods of library cataloging can be adapted to the Internet environment, and enhanced with the power of humans over machines to best catalog information.

Information scientists have spent thousands of years developing systems for classifying and retrieving information. Library cataloging systems such as the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress classification schemes were developed in accordance with the physical limitations of the cataloged material. The Internet explosion, in contrast, can be partially accredited to the virtual characteristics of online information. The flexibility of being able to offer multiple access points to information reveals some inappropriateness in ...