inconsistencies web search performance

[Karen G. Schneider]

Very interesting thread.  As for the concept of controlled vocabulary, in
its defense, a vocabulary that could teach itself would be extremely
useful.  Imho, the problem with controlled vocabularies--what makes them
idiosyncratic--is that they are not associated with an intelligent
mechanism that can reason, as the human brain does, "water closet = toilet"
or "smile is near grin," then pocket that information for further use. I
realize there are some tools that associate patterns and groups of words,
but I don't know of a tool that can make software independently build its
vocabulary without assistance from a human.  Or perhaps there is, and I'm
just behind the ball curve...


______________________________________________
Karen G. Schneider |  kgs at bluehighways.com
Director, US EPA Region 2 Library  |  Contractor, GCI
Councilor-at-Large, American Library Association
The Internet Filter Assessment Project:   
 http://www.bluehighways.com/tifap/
Author, Forthcoming: A Practical Guide to Internet Filters
(Neal Schuman, 1997 ISBN 1-55570-322-4)
Information is hard work  -------------------------------------------