In the last years, while running Search Explained, I have been involved not only SharePoint and Office 365 projects and conferences but also into the world of search in general. I have met super smart, independent search experts in various areas, like Open Source search engines, taxonomy management, search strategy, intranet, digital workplaces, and many more. As Charlie Hull, Flax writes on his blog:
“There’s also a small group of people who tend to be quieter about their expertise, perhaps because as independent practitioners or small business owners they’re not supported by the marketing budgets of large companies. These people survive on their reputation, which has been built steadily on a record of solid advice, honesty and neutrality. I’m now lucky enough to be part of this group – an informal network of experts in subjects as diverse as search for SharePoint, intranet strategy and taxonomy management. Occasionally we collaborate on projects, often we recommend each other to our clients and it’s always hugely enjoyable to meet in person and discuss the latest trends and industry landscape.”
It’s a real honor to be a member of this group, The Search Network. We have known each other for a long time and share a common passion for search. As Martin White writes about the group:
“Members of the Network have web site search, enterprise search and search application development expertise with on-premise, hybrid and cloud implementations. We all work as individuals or micro-companies and have no commercial relationships with any search vendor or implementation partner.”
The current members of The Search Network are:
- David Hobbs (Washington DC, content audits and content migration)
- Charlie Hull (Cambridge UK, open source application development)
- Miles Kehoe (San Francisco USA, strategy, implementation and recruitment)
- Helen Lippell (London UK, taxonomy development)
- Eric Pugh (Virginia USA, open source application development)
- Doug Turnbull (Virginia USA, open source application development)
- Martin White (Horsham UK strategy, implementation and evaluation)
- Agnes Molnar (Budapest Hungary, Microsoft SharePoint and O365 search)
Our new report: Search Insights 2018
by The Search Network
Our first collaboration is a free, online report, Search Insights 2018. We’re not charging for this report, there is no sponsorship, no plotting of vendors, marketing buzzwords – after all, we’re all independent. Our goal was to help you and your organization to have a better understanding, use the knowledge and information we share, and after all, have better search for your organization.
The book is under Creative Commons license, so please feel free to share and distribute it if you like (with attribution).
Of course, we welcome your feedback, too.
What a great of overview of search technologies and best practices. The combination of viewpoints, from several authoritative voices, stimulates the imagination of possibilities. This shared understanding is invaluable for search professionals. Especially those who have the responsibility to drive business value through a useful strategy and approach to improving results.
Thank you for your feedback, Grant. We appreciate!