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The usability of semantic search tools: a review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

VICTORIA UREN,
YUANGUI LEI,
VANESSA LOPEZ,
HAIMING LIU,
ENRICO MOTTA and
MARINA GIORDANINO
VICTORIA UREN
Affiliation:
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, e-mail: v.s.uren@open.ac.uk, y.lei@open.ac.uk, v.lopez@open.ac.uk, h.liu@open.ac.uk, e.motta@open.ac.uk
YUANGUI LEI
Affiliation:
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, e-mail: v.s.uren@open.ac.uk, y.lei@open.ac.uk, v.lopez@open.ac.uk, h.liu@open.ac.uk, e.motta@open.ac.uk
VANESSA LOPEZ
Affiliation:
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, e-mail: v.s.uren@open.ac.uk, y.lei@open.ac.uk, v.lopez@open.ac.uk, h.liu@open.ac.uk, e.motta@open.ac.uk
HAIMING LIU
Affiliation:
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, e-mail: v.s.uren@open.ac.uk, y.lei@open.ac.uk, v.lopez@open.ac.uk, h.liu@open.ac.uk, e.motta@open.ac.uk
ENRICO MOTTA
Affiliation:
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK, e-mail: v.s.uren@open.ac.uk, y.lei@open.ac.uk, v.lopez@open.ac.uk, h.liu@open.ac.uk, e.motta@open.ac.uk
MARINA GIORDANINO
Affiliation:
Centro Richerche FIAT, strada Torino 50, 10043 Orbassano (Torino), Italy, email: marina.giordanino@crf.it
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Abstract

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The goal of semantic search is to improve on traditional search methods by exploiting the semantic metadata. In this paper, we argue that supporting iterative and exploratory search modes is important to the usability of all search systems. We also identify the types of semantic queries the users need to make, the issues concerning the search environment and the problems that are intrinsic to semantic search in particular. We then review the four modes of user interaction in existing semantic search systems, namely keyword-based, form-based, view-based and natural language-based systems. Future development should focus on multimodal search systems, which exploit the advantages of more than one mode of interaction, and on developing the search systems that can search heterogeneous semantic metadata on the open semantic Web.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , December 2007, pp. 361 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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