Digirati has delivered a dedicated search engine for forest and timber industry research and technical information called Woodinfo.co.uk. It is specifically tailored to search 32 websites in the UK of key research and industry bodies. Woodinfo.co.uk has been created to help businesses involved in the resource chain, from growing trees through to using forest products in, for example, manufacturing and construction, find the information they are looking for, and improve the dissemination of research.
The Challenge
The forest and timber industries are an important part of the UK economy and are closely linked to economic, environmental and social sustainability – particularly in rural areas. There is an increasing amount of research around forest products in the UK and worldwide, much of which is directly relevant to industry today. However, in comparison to the concrete and steel industries, the industry was fragmented and access to information was limited.
“With the drive to more environmentally friendly manufacturing and construction, forest products are in increasing demand,” explained Dr Dan Ridley-Ellis, Principal Research Fellow, Forest Products Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University. “However, historically, it has been difficult for people to get access to information and this has been holding back development.”
In 2008 a meeting was hosted by the Scottish Forestry Trust between researchers and the wider forestry industry that highlighted the difficulty of finding and accessing information as an important issue that needed to be addressed. As a result, a partnership of public and private sector organisations worked together to develop an improved service to facilitate better communication, collaboration and dissemination of research.
“Previously, people would use general search engines, go to specific websites to search for information (if they knew about them), or ask someone they thought might know. Many of the sites are large and hard to search – especially if you are not sure what you are looking for. More crucially, many people were not aware of which websites had information that was relevant to them,” explained Dr Ridley-Ellis. “The need for a better way to access research findings and other information had been raised several times in various forums, and so all interested stakeholders decided that a single portal in which users could access the wealth of information available needed to be created.”
Selection
The project was financially supported by Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, UPM Tilhill and James Jones & Sons Ltd. Additional expertise was provided by Edinburgh Napier University, The Scottish Forestry Trust, and ConFor (the Confederation of Forest Industries (UK) Ltd.). Forest Research (an agency of the Forestry Commission) funded initial scoping studies from Edinburgh Napier University and started looking for the right solution.
“It was a requirement that the solution be low maintenance, work across diverse and separate websites and be flexible to change,” said Dr Ridley-Ellis. “The search function needed to be effective, efficient, easy to use and assist people who are not sure exactly what to search for – extremely intuitive therefore.”
Digirati was engaged to manage the project and was instrumental in working with all of the various stakeholders to deliver a website that fulfilled all goals. After researching the potential technology options Exalead was selected as the search software to power the site.
“The Forestry Commission was already aware of Exalead’s technology due to its work with the Scottish Government – which also relied on Exalead. Following conversations between the departments we confirmed that it was quick to set up, cost effective and highly flexible, which met all our requirements,” said Dr Ridley-Ellis. “Digirati then took the time and effort to fully understand our situation and worked diligently to produce a site that satisfied all concerned.”
Results
Woodinfo.co.uk was launched in February 2011 but had been functional and public since December 2010 following user testing in September. It now indexes 32 key research and industry bodies in the UK and provides impartial access to information from a wide range of organisations, including general information providers, research bodies and industry and supporting organisations in the UK, such as Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry Trust and ConFor.
The results can be sorted by source, date, and document type, and searches can be refined by adding more keywords, or by searching using automatically generated 'related terms'. The advanced search function allows users to narrow searches even further through exact phrases and excluded words.
“The search function works very effectively across the various websites, providing quick and effective search with the ability to filter results. Feedback from users has been good,” said Dr Ridley-Ellis. “The project has brought the research community, information providers, and business closer together and has certainly raised awareness of information sources.”
