U. of Arkansas Researcher Helping to Develop Web Annotation Technology

From a University of Arkansas News Release:

With little more than basic information about Web users’ behavior – that is, the hyperlinks they click on daily and the content at those sites – Susan Gauch can build a better search engine. In information systems research, this work is known as “implicit” user profiling, meaning there are basic assumptions about user interest and intent based on the sites they frequent and the content they view.
Gauch, a professor of computer science and computer engineering at the University of Arkansas, has expertise in developing robust and personalized search engines, which she will contribute to the work of Hypothes.is, a project started by Dan Whaley, the coder and entrepreneur who built the first Web-based travel reservation system [Internet Travel Network, later renamed GetThere, sold to Sabre] . Hypothes.is is trying to build a system of annotation for the Web. Based on a model of community peer-review, the system will be an open-source platform that will enable annotators to comment on individual sentences.
“Since the very beginning of the Web, there has been an issue of trust,” Gauch said, “because there has always been this ubiquitous ability for anyone to create and distribute information. What Hypothes.is is trying to do is build confidence and trust about information obtained on the Web. Yes, it is a form of peer review, but it won’t be hierarchical or purely academic. Many details haven’t been worked out yet, but the peer-review component will be determined by the annotator’s reputation, which will be based on many demographic factors and will be constantly under review by other annotators.”

Direct to Hypothes.is
Read the Complete U. of Arkansas Report
For the web search historians out there the name Susan Gauch is a familiar one. She’s a web search pioneer. While at the University of Kansas, Gauch was the developer of ProFusion (1997 capture via Internet Archive), an early metasearch/distributed search resource.
See Also: Learn More About Susan Gauch
See Also: “Data Discovery on the Information Highway (.PPT)
A 1997 PowerPoint presentation by Dr. Gauch where she discusses ProFusion.
See Also: “It’s no small world for ITN” via SF Biz Journal
More about Dan Whaley. From October 26, 1997.

Filed under: Data Files, News, Resources