Knowledge Finder®

Knowledge Finder is the brand name of the search engine developed by Aries Systems Corporation used to search the biomedical literature licensed from the National Library of Medicine (MEDLINE). It has been successfully used by hundreds of thousands of knowledge workers since its initial release in 1986. See what users say about Knowledge Finder.

Other products from Aries Systems Corporation include Editorial Manager, an online manuscript submission and peer review system, and Preprint Manager, an online production tracking system.

Knowledge Finder is designed for real world searching:

Knowledge Finder is based on the premise that most knowledge workers are not trained in the science of database searching; but, that technology can be used to help them retrieve accurate and relevant search results.

For example, a trained searcher knows that a search for “Advil” is better expressed as “Advil OR Ibuprofen” (i.e. a Boolean search expression). Knowledge Finder bypasses this complexity by automatically mapping an inexperienced user's search for “Advil” to “Ibuprofen” and other synonyms.

In this way Knowledge Finder behaves like an “automatic transmission” for searchers because it undertakes all the appropriate searching steps while shielding users from complexity. Knowledge Finder also provides traditional Boolean search options for users that have received the necessary training, and incorporates a number of additional specialized features.

How does Knowledge Finder work?

Knowledge Finder analyzes your search request and retrieves the most relevant articles based on proprietary Knowledge Finder algorithms and probabilistic analysis including the following elements:

1. Concept Mapping   Knowledge Finder analyzes your search query and maps your words to the language used in the database. Here are some simple examples:
   • “Heart Attack” maps to “Myocardial Infarction”
   • “SAH” maps to “Subarachnoid Hemorrhage”
   • Drug brand names such as "Prozac” are mapped to their generic equivalent, such as “Fluoxetine”
2. Spelling Equivalents   British/American spelling equivalents are applied (e.g. “paediatric” and “pediatric”, “haemorrhage" and “hemorrhage”)
3. Word forms   Word forms are automatically introduced, including singular/plural and verb tense mapping
4. Weighting   Knowledge Finder attaches more importance to words and concepts that appear in particular parts of the document such as the title and the thesaurus
5. Term frequency and normalization   Knowledge Finder counts the number of words (and word variants) in a document to assess its relevance. However, unlike other search engines that simply attach more importance to frequently occurring words, Knowledge Finder analyses the term count in respect to document length and also recognizes the greater importance of infrequently occurring terms with respect to other terms in the original query.
6. Automatic pre-explode   Databases such as MEDLINE have thesauri that organize specialized language into hierarchical structures. Knowledge Finder uses this information to retrieve terms that are “lower” in the structure as a way to identify additional relevant information. For example, a search for “Myocardial Infarction” identifies terms such as “Cardiogenic Shock” that are indexed below “Myocardial Infarction” in the MEDLINE thesaurus.

Knowledge Finder conveniently packages all of these enabling technologies into a single search button. The continuous enhancement of the technology since 1986 ensures that you retrieve excellent search results as quickly as possible.

To get the most out of Knowledge Finder, enter your full search query at the start. For example, if you are interested in the use of aspirin to treat hypertension, you should enter “how can aspirin be used to treat hypertension”, not just “aspirin”.

Retrieved documents are presented in order of likely relevance, unless you specifically select a chronological ordering from the Relevance/Recency pop-up menu.

Supported Environments

On the Internet, Knowledge Finder can be accessed using current versions of standard browsers.

On DVD, Knowledge Finder is accessed using local “client“ software for Windows and some Apple computers.