This is my final issue of Informer. I’ve been the curator since taking over from Udo in 2019 and have enjoyed creating and editing the issues, supported by Steve Zimmerman and Tony Russell-Rose who have uploaded the text into a readable format. I’ve already written a substantial article in this issue on what I regard as the first search revolution so I’ll keep this short. As I gradually exit from 25 years of enterprise search consultancy and 45 years of working with computer-based retrieval applications I do so with some reluctance as I see that ‘search’ is now coming centre stage for both individuals and organisations. The rate of evolution is staggering – it is less than a year since ChatGPT was announced. The rate of adoption inside organisations is going to be slower as we cope with a combination of inconsistent information quality and the challenges of training employees how to get the best from the technical revolution in search. Never has it been so important for practitioners and academic researchers to work together to deliver excellent search solutions, and the opportunities and challenges of doing so are the primary focus of Search Solutions 2023 on 22 November. From now on I will be focusing on achieving excellence in a totally different area of activity, one that I have been involved with for over 60 years. Take a look at https://martinwhite.substack.com/ for further information.
May you always find what you are searching for.
Martin White