Mark Walker (SCIP)

p2b.net, Innovation in Community Information

Friday 4 May 2007 (week 3)

Theplacetobe.net is a partnership between eight local organisations, each of which has a role in delivering information to the local community. Its aim is to help improve the quality of information available to people living in, working in, studying in and visiting Brighton & Hove. The centrepiece of its work is a search engine for the city, built using state of the art Google technology. It provides searchable access to the partner's sites, plus over 300 other sites that can provide high quality local information. The search engine also powers the search facilities on partner sites, providing a form of civic information utility.

Mark will review the origins of the search engine, demonstrate the use of the Google Search Appliance software and discuss the future of the project.

The HCT seminars take place on Friday afternoons at 1.30pm and last for an hour. Speakers range from researchers at the cutting edge of their fields to practitioners in industry. The seminars are intended for a general audience interested in HCI; interested students, or researchers in other fields, are always welcome. They are an excellent way to learn more about recent trends, ideas and results in HCI, learning technologies and related fields. Refreshments will be available.

The venue for the Summer term will be in the Interact Lab (Arundel 223)