I'm unemployed (whee!) and casually looking around for the next job. I'd
like to get back into information retrieval, which was my guiding passion a
couple years ago, and I'd like to do something that has the biggest
possible impact. What I don't know is what would be the coolest and most
extropy-enhancing form of information access to get involved with.
Let me give a few examples that I've thought of:
* Help people finding the right product or service to buy.
* Improve access to scientific information/studies
* Combine information access with decision support tools
* Improve tools for argumentation
* Idea markets
* Improve interfaces for today's consumer search services (conveniently,
I'm interviewing for a position at one of them)
* Improve interfaces for high-end search engines (like Verity or Inktomi)
What else is out there that I haven't heard about? Which of them is the
most leveraged way to increase the effectiveness of information? What
problem is out there that just needs a bit of a push for a huge benefit?
Now, my skills are information and user interface design, design
management, and Web technologies. I'm not much of a programmer, so going
for pure algorithm or engine design probably won't work for me. But if you
tell me about any cool ideas or technologies, I'll try to figure out a way
to get involved.
Thanks!
Drea
Drea@alumni.stanford.org