READIT - 2009 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Proceedings of READIT-2009, Kalpakkam - 603 102, 29-30 Dec 2009
Semantic Search Engines: A brief analysis
Rekha Rani Verghese
Dept. of Library and Information Science, Pondicherry University
E-mail: rekha_tcr@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The Semantic Search Engine or Third-Generation Search Engine is a search engine in which Semantic
technologies and / or Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques are applied. The objective of these products is to
take advantage of the existence of structural data (RDF, micro formats, and OWL) on the Web in order to process the
information included and offer to the end user an intelligent response. This paper tries to analyze seven search engines,
which are using semantics or NLP techniques for information retrieval.
Keywords: semantic search, Natural Language Processing, Search Engines
1. INTRODUCTION
Knowledge is power. But too much information can make you feel powerless. We are living in an
information society. There is so much information available that it is sometimes difficult to decide
what to do with it. While information and knowledge have always been central to most human
activity, there is a heightened perception now that information is the key to success in diverse
spheres, ranging from commerce to science. The information revolution is, of course, powered by
the advances in computer and communication technologies, most dramatically exemplified by the
prodigious growth of the Internet. There is, however, a growing problem as the amount of
information on diverse subjects increases. It is becoming difficult to filter the useful from the
useless; the accurate from the inaccurate and the reliable from the unreliable. Here comes the
importance of semantic search engines, based on semantics or NLP techniques for information
retrieval.
2. SEMANTIC SEARCH ENGINES
Semantics is the branch of linguistics that deals with the study of meaning, changes in meaning, and
the principles that govern the relationship between sentences or words and their meanings or the
study of the relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent. The Semantic Web is
an evolving development of the World Wide Web in which the meaning (semantics) of information
and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the
requests of people and machines to use the web content. Semantic search has the power to enhance
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