Earley & Associates presents a free 4-part Jumpstart webinar series dedicated to
the strategic, organizational and technological challenges of Digital Asset
Management (DAM). The series of 90-minute weekly webinars begins with laying the
groundwork for building the business case for DAM, and subsequent sessions
tackle marketing resource management, optimizing creative workflows, and the
impact of taxonomy on asset reuse. We will close with an overview of the DAM
vendor landscape, including tool selection considerations and the vendor
selection process.

Dates: Thursdays, January 14-February 4, 2010
Time:  1:00-2:30pm Eastern
Cost: Free

For session details and registration, please visit: http://bit.ly/63jfhn

Rebecca Allen
Taxonomy Consultant
_____________________________
EARLEY & ASSOCIATES
Cell: 425-299-5400
Email: rebecca@...
Web: www.earley.com

Hi all - I have a question about what kind of analysis you might have
tried with data about the # of search results user queries return (if
anything).

We have the ability with our search solution to know how many results
were available for each query executed by a user.  The most
significant (to me) are those searches that return 0 results - you
want to understand what patterns are in those searches that might
identify missing content or mistagged content, etc.

I've been asked for an analysis of the overall data for search result
counts for searches.  As you might know if you read my blog (at least
when I was publishing regularly - which I hope to start again soon!),
you'll know that my own bias is that if you're going to bother
analyzing data, you should do so with the expectation that you would
act on it and that you would expect to be able (and want to) influence
what you're measuring.  (Otherwise, what's the point in the analysis.)

I've done some preliminary review of the data we have for this metric
and I'm a bit stuck in thinking about what actions the insight might
drive.

Some examples:  I can determine the average number of results a user
sees.  I can determine the median number of results a user sees.  I
can figure out a standard deviation of the numbers. I can chart out
the data to see if I can find patterns (and I can).

At the end of the day, though, other than the special case of 0
results, what sorts of things might be driven by understanding this
data?

Let's say your goal was to reduce the median (or the average).  One
way to do that is to reduce content in your search corpus.  Is that
useful?  Another way would be to look at it as more of a training
issue - you just need to convince your users to use more precise
searches, right (and good luck doing that :-) )!

Anyway - I'm hoping someone out there has considered this and has some
insights to share.

Thanks in advance!
Lee Romero

Invitation
Please join us for our monthly Taxonomy Community of Practice Call, presented by
Earley & Associates. This month's topic is Metadata for Digital Images.

Date:  Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Time:  2:00 - 3:00 Eastern Time
Cost:  $50

Free preview:
http://www.slideshare.net/Earley/metadata-for-digital-images-december-2-taxonomy\
-cop
To register, visit:
http://www.earley.com/webinars/metadata/metadata-digital-images

Managing a collection of digital image assets is a complex undertaking. Unlike
text-based documents, images do not provide headings, captions, or the ability
to count word frequency for delivering relevant search results. With examples
from stock photo distributors and a case study on an image collection of 3.5
million, this session will address critical considerations for building
effective metadata for images.

David Riecks, project leader for the Stock Artists Alliance Photo Metadata
Project, will explain the benefits of using embedded photo metadata such as
captions, keywords, geographic information, and rights-based information in
managing image collections. Emphasis will be on the proper use of existing photo
metadata standards that are in wide use, such as IPTC, XMP and Exif, as well as
recommended best practices for photographers and for those maintaining image
databases.

Jody Apap, Vice President of Operations at A2Z Keywording, will continue with
addressing the difficulties of keywording million-image databases, including how
to describe complex visual images, how to insure limited and yet accurate and
consistent search results, the problems of synonyms and antonyms, and the
ambiguities of language. He will also discuss  the importance of taxonomies, how
to create search-friendly keywords, and give an in-depth look at search
functions and criteria.

New Jumpstart Series: Digital Asset Management
We are excited to announce a new Jumpstart series on Digital Asset Management
(DAM). This free 4-part educational series will run Thursdays, January 14 to
February 4, 2010. Industry experts will address the latest insights and
developments in building the business case for DAM, marketing resource
management, the vendor landscape, and optimizing asset reuse with taxonomy and
metadata.

Registration is open and we are currently accepting proposals for presentations,
more details can be found at:
http://www.earley.com/webinars/jumpstarts/digital-asset-management

Thank you,

Rebecca Allen
Taxonomy Consultant
_____________________________
EARLEY & ASSOCIATES
Cell: 425-299-5400
Email: rebecca@...
Web: www.earley.com

Invitation
Please join us for our monthly Taxonomy Community of Practice Call. This month's
topic is Developing an Ontology.

Date:  Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Time:  1:00 - 2:00 Eastern Time
Cost:  $50

Free preview:
http://www.slideshare.net/Earley/developing-an-ontology-november-4th-taxonomy-co\
p
To register, visit: http://www.earley.com/webinars/developing-ontology

An ontology is both a flexible and exciting way to organize information. In this
session, we will discuss such issues as bridging concepts amongst taxonomy,
thesauri, and ontology, the details of ontology representation in RDF/OWL,
implementing ontologies within systems, and use cases for how ontologies are
being used for systems integration and vocabulary mapping.

Hear Christine Connors of TriviumRLG and Irene Polikoff of TopQuadrant discuss
moving from building taxonomies to ontologies, ways in which ontologies provide
greater power in information access, and best practices for applications.

Fall Jumpstart Series
We recently finished our 4-part Fall Jumpstart series on optimizing business
processes through effective content management. With a focus on case studies
from the insurance industry, content management and industry experts addressed
how to gain competitive advantage by leveraging new developments in ECM
technologies.

Additional background readings and session recordings are available at:
http://www.earley.com/webinars/jumpstarts/insurance-and-content-management

Thank you,

Rebecca Allen
Taxonomy Consultant
_____________________________
EARLEY & ASSOCIATES
Cell: 425-299-5400
Email: rebecca@...
Web: www.earley.com