Enabling access to information and knowledge: A report on new tools – Enable and Unify – for conducting federated search of distributed content, extraction and management of metadata, and development of user-centered views of content

Current thinking concerning individual and organizational performance questions the ability of conventional, formal training strategies to address gaps, given the volume and rate of change in modern business environments. Increasingly, there is an emphasis on the role of improved information access and informal learning, both in the fields of learning and KM. However, despite the advances in technology to capture and store information and knowledge, our ability to search for useful information remains limited (and may even be degrading as information mounts). In this paper we discuss the problem and evaluate some existing solutions: centralized content management strategies and platforms, and federated search. We present a new solution in the form of advanced federated search tools and a metadata management application that are part of a new release of an industry-leading learning content management system, ForceTen, from Eedo Knowledgeware Corp.