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Introduction to NewsIndexer

As the influence of Internet technology continues to grow, people who have traditionally relied on the delivery of their morning paper are turning more and more to newspaper websites for local and world news. Now, in addition to current updates, it is possible to find out what happened in Paris (Texas and France), over the past week, the past month, or even the past year, simply by going online.

This vast potential for article storage, however, carries its own set of complications. Online searches for newspaper articles often yield a flood of erroneous hits and useless links. Discouraged readers who look to newspapers for information begin turning elsewhere for the news.

To retain the faith of readers, online searches must yield more useful results. News publishers have needed better ways of indexing articles, and sought indexing software to make the process easier.

Enter NewsIndexer

A revolutionary indexing system that caters to the newspaper industry, NewsIndexer is the ultimate news indexing tool, a jumpstart to the human indexer's brain.

NewsIndexer scans an article, then suggests indexing terms to be approved by the human indexer. This union between the machine's ability to store and retrieve knowledge, and the human's capacity for judgement and reason results in articles which are indexed quickly and accurately.

What kinds of indexing terms are used?

Taxonomy experts at NewsIndexer have created a specialized group of terms (see Sample of Thesaurus Hierarchy) with the newspaper industry's indexing needs in mind: a controlled vocabulary that reflects the media's constantly evolving vernacular.

The vocabulary is divided into eight sections, each of which corresponds to a section of a typical newpaper:

• News - The equivalent of section A, including Local, National and World News, Politics, the Opinion Page, and Weather

• Business -- Industry news, Finance, Careers

• Sports - Professional, Semi-Professional, College, High School, Youth, and Local teams

• Culture - Arts and Entertainment, Food, Society, Fashion, Weddings and Anniversaries

• Science/Health - Alternative Health, Astronomy News, and Medical Breakthroughs

• Technology - Computers, Internet, and High-Speed Communications

• Names of People, Places, and Organizations - An exhaustive list of names in the news

Smarter Indexing

As with any sizable vocabulary, there are numerous terms in the NewsIndexer taxonomy that may appear similar to a machine, but which contain very different meanings, i.e. "Chicago Bears" and "Grizzly Bears." While such terms may cause problems for simpler indexing systems, NewsIndexer has the capability to distinguish between them.

One of NewsIndexer's primary features is a simple and remarkable programming system called rulebuilding, which teaches the system to bring up terms by context. NewsIndexer will scan an article about the Chicago Bears and, drawing on its knowledge base, locate terms related to the football team, but will not suggest zoological terms pertaining to wild bears.

NewsIndexer's ability to distinguish between such similar terms is a tremendous time saver, both for the human indexer, and for the person who is searching for articles through a newspaper's website. Hence, the reader focuses on reading the articles instead of searching for them.

Measurable Results

At the end of each news day, you will send your newspaper articles to us. We'll feed this data through NewsIndexer, which scans every article and searches for terms similar to those in its controlled vocabulary. NewsIndexer then displays these terms for the human indexer's review and approval.

The process does not end there. NewsIndexer keeps statistics on what is and is not selected by the human indexer. Approved terms suggested by NewsIndexer are classified as "hits." Terms that were not selected are called "noise," and terms that should have been suggested, but were not, are "misses." Having statistics for hits, noise, and misses makes it easy to measure NewsIndexer's accuracy rate, and to systematically reduce noise and misses. Statistics also make it easier to tailor NewsIndexer to the specific data of every client.

Daily Monitoring

NewsIndexer's editorial team updates the vocabulary and knowledge base daily. A fresh political face in the news will be entered in the vocabulary the next morning. As pop cultural icons, local events, triumphant sports figures, and medical breakthroughs appear in the headlines, they are promptly added to the controlled vocabulary.

Vocabulary Customization

Our taxonomy experts can construct a vocabulary that is sensitive to regional nuances. Because readers want local news, as well as national and world events, NewsIndexer can be programmed to recognize suburban areas, high school athletes, county politicians, church events, weather, and much more information particular to an area.

Putting NewsIndexer to Work for You

NewsIndexer was created with the idea in mind that no two publications are the same, that news varies from place to place, and from hour to hour. Smarter indexing, measurable results, daily monitoring, and vocabulary customization are crucial for addressing every publication's specific needs.

We understand the importance of staying competitive in the battle for readership, and we know we can provide assistance. Newspapers across the country are already recognizing the benefits of the NewsIndexer. So, contact us today and find out more about how we can help.