If you’ve ever had the same difficulty as I have had in trying to understand what the difference is between a knowledge management search and an enterprise or Internet search, and wished you could find someone who can fill in the blanks in this area in plain English, sparing you the nitty-gritty details, you’ll be happy to share in my discovery of a blog that does just that.

John Meehan, blogging for Consona (News - Alert) Corporation, a software and services provider, took the bull by the horns on this subject and laid out in plain language how knowledge management searches differ from enterprise or Internet searches, and what is required for knowledge content support searches so when you hit the market trying to select search technology, you’ll start from an educated perspective.

He began by explaining “the two categories of search [Internet search and enterprise search] have a completely different goal, so their composition is completely different.”  He gave as an example a search for a “BMW Z4 2011 Black” done through the Internet and then through AutoTrader.com. With the Internet search, lots of results come up, many of which are not specific to that particular BMW, although related to some aspects of it. In the second search, however, only a few, specific choices are presented. Meehan said the AutoTrader.com search “can give me specific results based on my intent and further asks for other specifics such as my location and options to refine my results.”

He then referenced a guide, called KCS v5 Practices Guide, developed by the Consortium for Service Innovation, he feels does a terrific job of explaining the knowledge management search versus enterprise or Internet search.

Language nuances, especially English, the blog explains, makes search very difficult because words (definition) along with the way they are used (intent) have different meanings. One example of multiple-meaning words he provided was: “stock…a financial instrument, part of a gun, or a soup base?” As to intent, he wrote, “And is “running in to the bank” a common errand, or a navigational error in a kayak?” In providing results for these type of situations, popular Internet search engines, he pointed out, have the advantage of “the structure of the web itself, and the behavior of users, to increase relevance,” along with the sheer of volume of users to leverage.

Knowledge centered support (KCS) searches on the other hand, lack these advantages. He lamented, “If search is hard in general, search for support is doubly so.” That’s because users generally know just some of the symptoms of a problem that compels them to perform a search, but they really don’t know exactly what they’re looking for in terms of an answer. The Consortium, therefore, believes for articles using the KCS proposed structure “search should look first in Problem and Environment sections” but also allow “the option to search the Resolution and Cause fields” for those who know something about the cause of the issue that has prompted the search as well as have a possible answer in mind, Meehan said.

So how sophisticated does search technology need to be for a sustainable KCS implementation? Meehan said it depends on “the size of [the] knowledge base, the complexity of the domain (i.e., how subtle can the nuances be between non-duplicate content), the technical astuteness and the persistence of … users.”

When selecting search technology, Meehan suggests giving your needs serious consideration and ask yourself some questions, such as: “should a single search return results from documentation, community forums, or defects as well?” Or, “Will a simple keyword search suffice, or do we need to support synonyms, concept- based search, or does the size and complexity of our domain require even more advanced approaches to finding results?”

Reading the explanations provided by Meehan helped me gain a much better understanding of knowledge management searches and what sets them apart from Internet and enterprise searches. I hope it has done the same for you.

In other news, TMCnet reported the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA) has announced the launch of a new knowledge management solution that can create a more structured and efficient government information systems' network.