Data mining is a complex process. So much has to be taken into consideration in order to create the perfect, or even mediocre, search engine program. Careful attention must be given to specific words, phrases, and even number series so as to reach useful results.

I’m surprised to see how many different ways documents and other digital files can be organized. Indexing and searching are both such interesting processes. APIs are extremely important to the process of data mining. When combined with some other program, an engine can find almost anything. I feel like we’re at a place where we have nearly perfected the tools for searching. However, in light of the scavenger hunt earlier this semester, it seems that there is still room for improvement.

Nonetheless, it’s amazing to see how much we can do with searches today. Not only can we get significant results from keyword or key phrase searches, but we can even get direct answers with question searches. I remember going on “Ask Jeeves” when I was younger and being able to get an answer for almost any question I typed in. I think this site was geared towards younger people and it’s now the more “grown-up” Ask.com, but this format is incredibly useful and efficient.

Another interesting search that I’ve used is for math problems. I know that if you Google search a specific math problem, Google will supply the answer.

As for quantity versus quality, I agree with the article. Quality is important, of course, because you want something reliable. However, I think quantity is the most important factor of the two at the end of the day because the bare facts are what truly matter. Having a wealth of information is crucial to collecting data. There are more options to look through, more information to absorb and work with, and a greater consensus as to what the facts are.