Ongoing discussion with our host (Ning.com) about network search functions

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Research Cooperative
13/01/14 01:54:36PM
@chief-admin

Since several years ago, I have had an ongoing discussion with Ning.com about the pitiful support that is given for searching inside social networks that -- like ours -- are created using the Ning platform.

Today I received an email from Thomson Reuters that led me to post the following message to the Ning Network Creators group, of which I am a member.

If you are concerned about the lack of activity in our own network, please read this.

Thanks, Peter

MY TEXT FOLLOWS

Today I received an announcement from the very well-resourced company Thomson Reuters . This company manages huge databases of scientific literature and is in effect building social networks (for scientists) around an existing and ever-growing core of content.

Search functions have been critical from the very start of the online presence of the databases managed by this company.

For small social networks that can only build content slowly, from nothing, effective search functions may not seem an obvious necessity at the beginning.

Most of our Ning networks are slow to grow, but the need for advanced search functions will grow exponentially as a network grows in membership and as network content expands.

The following text is extracted from the announcement by Thomson Reuters (Jan 13th, 2014).

Perhaps Ning will be able to make a similar announcement, in the not too distant future?!

"The new Web of Science delivers a user-centric redesign to provide a simplified, intuitive search with clearer results through a single interface. These enhancements make it:

  • easier to start a search
  • easier to review results, and
  • easier to discover related research with linked data.

Enhancements that you will notice include:

  • simplified navigation and grouping of functional controls
  • expanded search fields available with one click, and
  • etc."

An online WoS training tutorial for the new search system can be seen here. The video is a spectacular display of what can be achieved when an in-house search system is fully developed:

http://www.youtube.com/user/WoSTraining?elq=6143bc9ef14a4ce49ea8d98...

Please enjoy,

Peter

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