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How to beat information overload

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February 23, 1996
Web posted at: 3:40 p.m. EST

From Technology Correspondent Brian Nelson

(CNN) -- If the Internet is a haystack, finding a "needle" of information may be just a keystroke away. Search engines, data bases and "knowbots" may have what you're looking for.

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An IBM solution called data mining is touted in a television ad featuring runway models at a fashion show. It's a research tool that can do everything from locating business sales figures to uncovering moves to beat a chess opponent. Data mining has even helped professional basketball coaches identify the right players and the right plays to beat an opposing NBA team.

Search tools (also known as "engines") such as Lycos and Yahoo allow web surfers to search for something by topic by typing in the requested information. AT&T Interchange, an on-line service for business customers, goes further. In addition to providing access to numerous databases on the Internet, it keeps on running well after you've shut off the computer. You just have to ask to be updated. When you log back on, new information will be waiting for you.

knowbot

Search tools for networks and databases are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The most advanced, called "knowbots", are software tools that strive to know what you want, and then find it for you.

For example, Firefly, a web site for music lovers, uses knowbot software to help visitors expand their music collections. By typing in answers to a series of questions, the knowbot produces a list of recording artists similar to those the visitor already enjoys.


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