This research leverages information retrieval activity in order to build a network of organizational expertise in a distributed R&D laboratory. The authors describe traditional knowledge management practices and review post-cognitivists theories in order to define social creation in collaborative information retrieval activity. The Actor-Network theory accurately describes association processes and includes both human and non-human entities. This chapter compares this theory with the emergence of Social Search services online and Experts’ Retrieval Systems. The chapter authors suggest afterward, a social search engine named DemonD that identifies documents but more specifically users relevant to a query. DemonD relies on transparent profile construction based upon user activity, community participation, and shared documents. Individuals are invited to participate in a dedicated newsgroup and the information exchanged is capitalized. The evaluation of our service both ergonomic and through a simulation provides encouraging data.
Determining the Relative Importance of Webpages Based on Social Signals Using the Social Score and the Potential Role of the Social Score in an Asynchronous Social Search Engine
