LIRT News, March 1998

by Billie Peterson, Baylor University

Dear Tech Talk--

I recently attended a meeting where I heard another librarian mention that we shouldn't be "afraid" of intelligent search agents -- instead, we should embrace them. I thought "librarians" were intelligent search agents! So. . .if not librarians, what/who is an "intelligent search agent?"

--Anxious About Agents

Dear AAA--

Intelligent agents are computer programs designed to help people perform tasks more efficiently on computers. An elementary example of intelligent agents, with which many people have had experience, is the use of "wizards" that appear in spread sheet programs or the Windows 95 operating system. Wizards guide the user through a series of steps which accomplish a particular task. The "wizard" saves the user time because s/he doesn't have to refer to a manual.

Intelligent search agents are computer programs designed to help people find and manage information more effectively and efficiently. The ideal Internet intelligent search agent would be able to:

Formulate effective search strategies from natural language requests;
Negotiate with other agents the best places to retrieve the specific information;
Execute search strategies in various search engines, using the most appropriate search strategy for that search engine;
Revise search strategies automatically, by "learning" from the user's selection activities what is and is not relevant;
Remove duplicate references from search results;
Recognize and remove dead-end links from search results;
Re-execute searches on a periodic schedule to maintain the user's awareness of new information.

With an intelligent search agent such as this, the user would no longer have to decide which search engine(s) to use, how to best formulate the search for each specific search engine, look through screens of duplicates, click on broken links, or remember which search strategy was the most successful. The search results would be both manageable in size and of higher relevance. Sound too good to be true? It is. The technology isn't quite to this level of sophistication -- yet. However, computer scientists and research and development units are experimenting with agent technology and developing both web-based and desktop computer-based prototypes.

One of the major differences between the behavior of intelligent agents and other computer programs, is that traditional computer programs perform their operations based on a set of known (to the program), fixed rules. Intelligent agents perform their operations using a knowledge database that they continually create based on their evaluation of the action of the program and of the reaction of the user. Therefore, the future behavior of the agent should improve as its knowledge database grows. The agent "learns" from its "master," the user.

Following are some descriptions of a few programs and resources that use, to some extent, aspects of intelligent agent technology. This list of programs and resources does not constitute an endorsement or an evaluation of them. Additional examples can be found at URL: http://www.cs.umbc.edu/agents/agents.shtml.

Autonomy
URL: http://www.agentware.com

A Windows-based program that uses the metaphor of "dogs" as its interface, with each dog representing an agent that can be trained (and retrained) to find specific information available on the World Wide Web.

BargainFinder
URL: http://bf.cstar.ac.com/bf/

Enter a musician's or an album name, and receive a list of the prices for the CD from about 10 online CD stores. The agent aspect of this service then sends the query, correctly formatted, to each store's database and compiles and displays the results. Click on the link for the least expensive CD to order it from the store.

Farcast
URL: http://www.farcast.com/

With this fee-based service, agents are used to create a personalized news service which draws its information from major newsfeeds and delivers the news to your e-mail address.

LifeStyle Finder
URL: http://lifestyle.cstar.ac.com/lifestyle

This purely-for-fun, web-based resource uses demographic information to predict web sites that would be of interest to you based on choices made in answering questions posed by "Waldo." When done, you can indicate which of the recommended sites really do meet your interests and tell "Waldo" how well it did with its predictions.

PointCast
URL: http://www.pointcast.com/

With this free software, available for Windows and Macintosh platforms, you can set up a personalized news profile (the agent) which the PointCast Network uses to deliver current news to your desktop.

WebCompass
URL: http://arachnid.qdeck.com/qdeck/products/wc20/main.html

A windows-based program that is configured to search 35+ Internet search engine databases, rank search results by relevance, build comprehensive summaries of search results, organize results by topic, update results, and use search results to refine further searches.

As human "intelligent search agents," librarians should monitor developments with intelligent agent technology. Although intelligent search agents have the potential for greatly simplifying the effective retrieval of relevant information from the Internet, the need will still exist for competent information professionals to assist users in making the most effective use of these new tools.

For more information:

Makulowich, John. "Alert and News Services." Online 21 (March/April 1997):82-84.

Tegenbos, Jef and Paul Nieuwenhuysen. "My Kingdom for an Agent? Evaluation of Autonomy, An Intelligent Search Agent for the Internet." Online & CDROM Review 21 (June 1, 1997):139-145.

Tudor, Jan Davis. "The New Alchemy: Using Droids & Agents to Treat Information Overload." Online 21 (November/December 1997):50-56.

UMBC AgentWeb
URL: http://www.cs.umbc.edu/agents/

Verity
URL: http://www.verity.com

As always, send questions and comments to:

Snail Mail:	Tech Talk Billie Peterson Moody Memorial Library P. O. Box 97148 Waco, TX 76798-7148
E-Mail:	petersonb@baylor.edu

LIRT News, March 1998. Volume 20, number 3.
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