Factiva Search 2.0 Help, Beta Now Available

March, 2006

Factiva is taking the first step towards fundamentally transforming business research with the introduction of its new beta user experience, Factiva Search 2.0. 

Factiva Search 2.0 Beta can be accessed via a tablink within Factiva.com. 

The existing Factiva.com experience will be unaffected by Factiva Search 2.0 Beta.  There is no additional charge for Factiva Search 2.0.

Highlights of the new Factiva Search 2.0 experience include:

• Relevancy searching that uses normal language and returns results based on an adjacency algorithm.  Some Boolean search logic is also supported.
• Unique intelligent filters that organize search results by subjects, companies, industries, sources and news clusters.
• Interactive, visual navigation that allows you discover a new perspective on your search by easily linking to articles groups.
• Contextual snippets give you more than just the headline and enable you to quickly determine the relevancy of an article.

Throughout the beta period, Factiva will be fine-tuning the user experience, making adjustments and changes based upon customer feedback. We encourage you to share your thoughts and comments about Factiva Search 2.0 via the Feedback link within the product. 

General

How do I search with Factiva Search 2.0?

  Simply type a few words or phrases into the search box. Use specific words that you would expect to find in the perfect  document. Like   searching on the Web, you do not need to use connectors in your search, however, some Boolean search commands are supported including     and, or, - (e.g., minus) and wc= (e.g., word count equals).  

For academic customers, Factiva Search 2.0 charges should not be a concern.  

What content is included in the Factiva Search 2.0 experience?

The Factiva Search 2.0 beta is searching against a 90-day archive of content which includes those sources in Factiva's collection that are actively updated. Therefore, a Factiva Search 2.0 search will retrieve results from approximately 6,000 sources and roughly 18 million documents. This time period and content set may be adjusted at some point during the beta period.

Which language(s) are available in Factiva Search 2.0?

While the Factiva Search 2.0 content set is composed of all currently updated sources within a 90 day archive, the Factiva Search 2.0 user interface will be available in English only.

Search Results  

What is the 'Discovery' pane?

The 'Discovery' pane organizes search results into categories or groupings so that you can quickly see with the big picture around your search.  Filtered results are completely interactive, enabling you to redirect your research dynamically to find new connections and ideas.     Filters are applied to all search results and include Date, News Clusters, Companies, Subjects, Industries and Sources.

What is the 'Date' graph represent? What value does it provide to my search results?

This discovery filter groups articles date so that you can immediately see the peaks and valleys of news coverage for your search terms. The graph is completely interactive and you can click on any time bar to see articles from that date range.  

What does 'Companies' represent?

Using Factiva Intelligent Indexing, this discovery filter surfaces the top five companies mentioned around your search. The bar graph provides information about the number of articles for that specific company within your search results.

What does 'Subjects' represent?

This discovery filter displays the top five Factiva Intelligent Indexing (FII) subjects mentioned around your search. The bar graph and provides information about the number of articles for that particular subject within your search results.

What does 'Industries' represent?

Based on Factiva Intelligent Indexing, this discovery filter surfaces the top five industries mentioned around your search. The bar graph provides information about the number of articles for that specific industry within your search results.

What does 'Sources' represent?

This discovery filter presents the top five publications or sources included in your search results. The bar graph displays the number of articles from each publication or source within your search results.

What does 'News Clusters' represent?

This discovery filter utilizes text mining technologies to identify top trends, relationships and patterns within your search results.  News Clusters examine the first 100 headlines to find repeated occurrences of hidden ideas or trends so you immediately uncover information from deep within your search results.   

What are contextual snippets?

How do they provide value to my search? Contextual Snippets provides the first occurrence of your search terms within each article so that you can quickly determine if it is relevant.  Articles that do not include search terms are included in the search results due to their Factiva Intelligent Indexing.  These articles will include the lead sentence in the snippet.

What is the Quotes link? When does it appear as part of search results?

Searches that include recognized public companies will automatically link to and surface stock quote information above the headlines. Clicking on 'Chart' will display a static thumbnail chart for that specific quote. Clicking on 'Snapshot' will display a Factiva Companies and Executives Snapshot for the specific company.

What does the 'Did you mean' link do?

 Factiva Search 2.0 offers recommendations for company names and correct spellings. Clicking on the 'Did you Mean' link will take you to search results based on the recommendation. The default search results will also include any free text search entered in the open text field...

Can Factiva Intelligent Indexing codes be used to search in the Factiva Search 2.0 beta?

Factiva Search 2.0 is targeted for users who are familiar with searching via popular web search engines.  Most users generally have little or no understanding of Factiva’s robust taxonomy searching capabilities and Factiva Search 2.0 does not currently support searching with Factiva Intelligent Indexing codes.

However, Factiva Intelligent Indexing is automatically applied to search results within the Discovery pane to effectively surface companies, subjects, industries and sources.  News Clusters that identify trends, relationships and patterns within search results are also organized using Factiva’s proprietary taxonomy.

What is the alerting experience within Factiva Search 2.0?

Academic customers are not permissioned for the 'Alerts' experience due to account set-up restrictions.

Article View

What is 'You maybe interested in'? How does it help me?

Based on Factiva Intelligent Indexing, Companies, Industries, Subjects and Sources mentioned within an article are listed so that you can explore a topic further. All components are interactive and will launch a new search when clicked.  

What is 'More articles like this'? How does it help me?

Factiva Search 2.0 recommends additional articles that might be of interest based on the current article being viewed. Clicking on a specific headline within More Articles takes you to the full text of the article.