Navtree Makes Search Easier
Give your users a navigation interface like ones they are familiar with from the Internet. A navigation tree presents the terms from your thesaurus as branches and leaves of a hierarchical tree. Each term displays the number of documents indexed with it. Each term is also a hyperlink. When you click on one of the links, a list of documents (also a link) is returned. Click on one of those links to view the information.
Navtree puts terms in a hierarchical list with the broadest term at the top—and in line with similar terms—and lists the narrower (more specific) terms underneath the broader terms. This hierarchal list allows users to immediately understand the term’s meaning and choose a different term if desired.
Search Made Simple
Fifty percent of searches use this hierarchical "drill down" method. It is particularly effective because users don't need to guess at words and expressions that may be part of the thesaurus. Instead, they are presented with them. They can also enhance their personal understanding of the structure of the enterprise and its activities, as reflected by the structure of the thesaurus.
Open Source for Better Integration
Navtree uses an open source product from Source Forge PHP Layers Menu System, to create the tree and links and an XQuery request to search the XML document database for matching documents. Navtree can be similarly implemented on your Intranet or modified to work with your content management or portal server.
An online demonstration of an implementation of "thesaurus navigation" is available at the MediaSleuth® site, Access Innovations' e-commerce site for educational media.
Navtree complements either the MAIstro or Thesaurus Master taxonomy management tools.
