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NYU Medical Center - Department of Pathology

DPCI implemented a Web content management system for NYU Medical Center's Department of Pathology, widely regarded as a leader in immunological research, molecular oncology, and experimental pathology. The Drupal-based system enables the department to publish educational, research and patient care information more efficiently and effectively. > more

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About "Intrusive Information Overload"

A few guys -- Jeff Faraday (yes he is a descendant of Michael Faraday, which I think is cool) and Marc Hayem -- from MarkLogic Corporation came by my offices today for a brainstorming session. Jeff brought up the notion of the XML server as a great way to help companies and people "avoid intrusive information overload."

Normally my buzzword detector goes off and thats about when I reach for my 6th latte of the day to get me through the pitch, but this phrase intrigued me. Just about every day of my life I am at war with all the conduits of information that barrage me. I wake up to the newscasters on WINS News (1010 on your AM dial) speaking faster than a human should ever be able to speak, squeezing promotional ad copy in between any number of seemingly incongruous news items. After showering and shaving (ahh, the simple life) and about 5 minutes with the kids if I'm lucky, I get to check the blackberry for urgent sms texts or the hundreds of emails that came in from just about anywhere in the timespan that I slept.

My day goes on at times with information pouring out of my devices like water gushing from a stream. And that is just the 'pushed' content from software vendors, partners, customers, business prospects, news sources and bloggers, and of course the tricky spammers that managed to fly in under the filters.

I hadn't even touched on the active research I will do either on my favorite news or industry sites, or the R&D efforts that I and my colleagues are intrinsically involved with. We all survive with Google's search appliance, which delivers hundreds and hundreds of seemingly-related links that we don't bother to check -- always trusting that the first few will be the best (as opposed to from the companies that know how to best optimize their content for search engines like Google).

So when Jeff told me about how MarkLogic server helps customers avoid intrusive information overload, you can imagine how my ears perked up. I have been excited about XML server technology and its superior search mechanisms for some time, mostly as a way for my publishing customers to store their content in its most highly-available format. By storing in native XML, companies can avoid the constant processing and re-assembly of content into and out of relational database server technologies.

I was aware of the benefits of an XML server technology like MarkLogic server for rapid retrieval of related content from seemingly disparate sources or projects. This works for the publisher who wants to grab materials from different projects, publications, or even brands to create new offerings or 'mashups'. It also works for the consumer that doesn't want to just be presented links, but wants the actual relevant content presented in the Browser immediately after search, without having to wade through links.

What I think Jeff was trying to say was that by allowing the person who is searching the wherewithal to apply meaning or context to the search (semantic search, if you will), that person could conceivably avoid masses of inappropriate search results with a product like MarkLogic Server. If you can imagine a time when this kind of technology becomes more widely adopted across the Web, then there actually might come a day when we can filter out the 'noise' that distracting search results provide.

I am not sure how MarkLogic Server will help me with my email 'problem', but I think the way is clear for all of us to leverage these kinds of XML server repositories with their superior search appliances across the landscape of the Web to offer semantic search capabilities, and in so doing, minimize or avoid intrusive information overload.

Posted at 09:42 pm by Joseph Bachana