I've mocked up the example described at the end of my last post (Prototype: Bounded Search Area), using Adobe InDesign to demonstrate a Web 2.0 interface that allows us to query multiple data sources to fulfill a location based search.
This application, available as a jpg here, consists of widgets that are assembled in a plug and play manner and use an area of interest drawn on a map to filter the search results.
Some observations:
- Useful search query widget combinations become a commodity.
- A market develops for access to subject matter experts' knowledge bases.
- Algorithms are created to "intersect" search results from multiple data sources, many of which have poor data quality. For example, if the street name of a japanese restaurant returned from zagat differs slightly from that of a traffic server, software must determine whether they are truly the same location.
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