semantics, ontology, search, web 2.0, web 3.0

I have been asking myself about how information retrieval (IR) models/applications can take advantage of Web 2.0. One of the principles of Web 2.0, according to Tim O’Reilly, describes Web as a platform – users can use more interactive applications entirely through a browser. This changed completely the role of users from passive and consumers to active and producers. These new kinds of applications designed for Web 2.0 encourage users to participate, for instance, giving their comments, expressing their opinions, interacting through social networks, forming virtual communities, sharing their documents, pictures, movies, etc. But how IR applications can take advantage of users and this collaborative process in order to enhance retrieval mechanisms and provide more accurate results?

One of the techniques that has been used in some applications so as to categorize content collaboratively has been defined as folksonomy. Basically, users employ open-ended labels called tags to add explicit meaning to information and objects. This process of tagging happens in a social environment usually shared and opened. Taxonomies are the structures that describe such categories. It is my opinion that using taxonomies can impoverish this process, because most cases knowledge (i.e., the semantic content – tags) cannot be modeled hierarchically. However, this can be the beginning of a process where information can have more well-defined meaning and IR systems can provide more interactive tools and precise answers.

Because users create and publish new contents using tools developed for Web 2.0, folksonomy can work. Nevertheless, we still have a problem with the amount of public information available not categorized. The big challenge reflects in how to develop an application that can help users find their information need and provide mechanisms that incentive users, for instance, to categorize such information. For example, I find a paper about IR and ontology and after reading it I describe this paper in a specific structure that facilitates IR systems to provide better answers for next queries – new users. In my opinion there can be a way to create an interactive IR system that uses ontologies instead of taxonomies and helps users tag content without requiring hard-working. I still do not have developed this idea – not yet…