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search is the metaphor
Playing around with the Mac program DEVONthink, which describes itself, among other ways, as a "freeform database." This seems, at first glance, to mean that it functions as a huge data receptacle, one into which you can dump all kinds of raw material, which then gets retrieved not via the normal array of database queries but rather through a sophisticated search interface.
From the documentation:
"With its intelligent organising capabilities, DEVONthink is the number one choice for the 'hunters & collectors' type of people. They tend to store every bit of whatever they get hold of, from text files [to] images, MP3s and Quicktime movies to web pages and bookmarks, and some of them MIGHT even organise it somehow. But most of them won't bother with kinky things like 'groups.'
"And that's all what DEVONthink ... is all about: storing and organising things. So, H&Cs will throw everything they have into the database ... Then, when they look for 'something they are sure they MUST have somewhere,' it's time for DEVONthink to play out its cards: the advanced search functions and the AI-based 'see also' and 'keywords' buttons. ... If the document the H&C is looking for is not [found]. it might at least be similar to one [that is]. One click, and DEVONthink shows a list of all other documents that are similar to the selected one."
I've been seeding DEVONthink with the data from my index card file, and it's been an interesting experience so far. Browsing the cards using this program is different from browsing them in Access, although in ways that are hard to quantify precisely. At this early stage I am prepared to risk falling into the old Mac vs. PC dichotomy by saying that DEVONthink feels "fuzzier" or "more organic" than Access, whereas Access feels more "precise" but also more rigid, and certainly less associational. At this point it's worth it for me to keep both databases up-to-date and active, but I'll let you know if one eclipses the other.
It's worth it to mention that the DEVONthink strategy of relieving the user of the need to categorize by providing a powerful, intuitive, effective search mechanism seems pretty akin to the idea behind the Google Desktop Search hard-drive search utility. Note the way that Google rep Marissa Mayer talks about search vs. directory in the conversation blogged at John Batelle's Searchblog:
"In 1995 ... you could find what you were looking for by browsing a directory like Yahoo. But over time as the web scaled that model didn't scale. It broke, which is why search (became the metaphor for finding things on the web). We are seeing the same thing happening now on personal computers (which have far more storage than even five years ago)."
Labels: databases, indexing |
Thursday, October 28, 2004
6:58 PM
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