Dave Garvey welcomed all the participants on behalf of the host, Alidade Incorporated.

To put this year’s session in context, Dave reviewed the previous four Search Theory workshops. In 2001, the group examined the question “Is Search Theory still relevant?” and explored the operational and mathematical history of search to see if there were lessons for current and future types of search. Agreeing that it was profitable to continue, the group met in 2002, and asked the question, “What would Search Theory look like if it were invented now?” In this session the group reviewed new techniques like agent-based modeling and increases in computational power to see if Search Theory itself might be different if other tools were available. “Networked Searches and Searches in Networks” was the theme for 2003. This session focused on the concept of social networking and the search for information within networks, as opposed to the idea of hardware usually conjured up by the word “network.”

At “Investigating Hider Theory,” last year’s workshop, the group discussed various strategies available to the hider, as well as the kind of searches with which they would not want to compete. This year’s workshop investigates the need for new metrics for search, showing that there was indeed a change in the types and methods of search that requires a fresh look at how to evaluate both success and failure in search.