In his popular columns for ONLINE, Search Engine Update and On the Net, Greg details the latest developments about how the web search engines are changing, particularly when it comes to advanced searching capabilities. The tweaks, the experiments, the new capabilities - all will be explained in this opening session. An extension of the information presented in the columns, you will learn the latest on search techniques to optimize your searching behaviors. 

Where does the future of search lie? Will we see greater emphasis on specialty, vertical, blended, and federated search? What about the role of social search and new information discovery tools?  Who better to explore the future by sharing his in-depth knowledge and assiduously gained insights into the search engine world than Danny Sullivan? His contacts within search engine companies allow him a unique perspective into the future direction of search that will affect our working lives.

The value proposition for information professionals has long revolved around providing accurate, relevant, and timely information.  The abundance of web-based information, however, has altered this proposition. To fully demonstrate their value, information professionals must think beyond information retrieval to packaging information results in a fashion that aligns with their organization’s or client’s expectations Whether itís a report, a slideshow, or something else, Mary Ellen Bates will guide us through how to add value to our search results.

Legal search has moved well beyond Lexis and Westlaw. New sources for legal information on the web stem from established legal
publishers, from start-up companies, and from free websites. Whether you’re looking at case law, court records, e-discovery, state laws, criminal cases, or civil cases, new developments in web sources will affect your ability to conduct effective research. Contentious issues, such as copyright, also play a role.

Mobile devices, from PDAs to pocket computers to cell phones, are becoming increasingly prevalent: They’ve gone mainstream. As more people rely on these devices, the ability to use them for text messaging, email, and internet research is also increasing.  However, there is little consistency among device manufacturers about how this is accomplished and what techniques need to be employed. Mobile search is an exciting new area.

The web is a haven for news junkies and for those engaged in searching the news for important information in support of research projects. As more and more news sources enter the arena, they are supplemented by information from "citizen journalists." Specialized news search engines such as NewsNow, newsfeeds from general web search engines such as Google and Yahoo!, and the blogosphere combine to present multiple challenges to researchers: overlapping information, news versus commentary, and completeness of coverage.

The science of searching or the searching of science?  Christina Pikas is an expert at both. In this presentation, however, she concentrates on the latter. The universe of scientific and technical information is expanding, and the possibilities for searching expand along with it. Christina will explain the new developments in the sci-tech search world, which should be of interest to both hardcore science researchers and armchair science amateurs.

Through his Information Advisor newsletter and his new book, The Art of Strategic Listening, Bob Berkman continues to follow the nuances of social media. Not that he’s only interested in the mundane uses of these tools to keep in touch with friends and family. He’s more interested in how they can be used for business research. Join Bob as he puts Facebook, Twitter, social graphing, and other social media in a research context.