Information Discovery
Information discovery goes beyond search, answering questions you couldn't otherwise ask. Discovery can lead to more effective search by exploring and then defining new relationships with your particular target data.
| Search | Discovery |
|---|---|
| What web pages link to my company? | Of sites that link to my company, what other (kinds of) pages do they link to? |
| Where is my product mentioned? | Of places where my product is mentioned, what are the most frequent other products mentioned? |
| What companies have the same primary NAICS code as mine? | What demographic slices have companies with the same NAICS code as mine? What kinds don't? |
| How many bookstores are there within 100 miles? | What types of businesses tend to be near bookstores, and what localities are exceptions? |
The computational requirements of information discovery tends to rise exponentially with the number of possible relationships, and this is where general search engines are at a disadvantage in their attempt to do all things for all people. But for focused research and targeted information, such questions are quite tractible with the right tools and methods.