Mining the Talk: Unlocking the Business Value in Unstructured Information [Paperback]

Scott Spangler (Author), Jeffrey Kreulen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0132339536 | ISBN-13: 978-0132339537 | Publication Date: July 29, 2007 | Edition: 1

Leverage Unstructured Data to Become More Competitive, Responsive, and Innovative

 

In Mining the Talk, two leading-edge IBM researchers introduce a revolutionary new approach to unlocking the business value hidden in virtually any form of unstructured data–from word processing documents to websites, emails to instant messages.

 

The authors review the business drivers that have made unstructured data so important–and explain why conventional methods for working with it are inadequate. Then, writing for business professionals–not just data mining specialists–they walk step-by-step through exploring your unstructured data, understanding it, and analyzing it effectively.

 

Next, you’ll put IBM’s techniques to work in five key areas: learning from your customer interactions; hearing the voices of customers when they’re not talking to you; discovering the “collective consciousness” of your own organization; enhancing innovation; and spotting emerging trends. Whatever your organization, Mining the Talk offers you breakthrough opportunities to become more responsive, agile, and competitive.

 

• Identify your key information sources and what can be learned about them
• Discover the underlying structure inherent in your unstructured information
• Create flexible models that capture both domain knowledge and business objectives
• Create visual taxonomies: “pictures” of your data and its key interrelationships
• Combine structured and unstructured information to reveal hidden trends, patterns, and relationships
• Gain insights from “informal talk” by customers and employees
• Systematically leverage knowledge from technical literature, patents, and the Web
• Establish a sustainable process for creating continuing business value from unstructured data

 

Preface xv

Acknowledgements xx

 

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

Chapter 2: Mining Customer Interactions 21

Chapter 3: Mining the Voice of the Customer 71

Chapter 4: Mining the Voice of the Employee 93

Chapter 5: Mining to Improve Innovation 111

Chapter 6: Mining to See the Future 133

Chapter 7: Future Applications 163

Appendix: The IBM Unstructured Information Modeler Users Manual 171

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

W. Scott Spangler

IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120 (email: [e-mail]; ph. 408-927-2887)

Scott Spangler is a Senior Technical Staff Member who has been doing knowledge base and data mining research for the past 20 years–since 1996 at the IBM Research Lab and previously at the General Motors Technical Center, where he won the prestigious “Boss” Kettering award (1992) for technical achievement. He currently works in IBM Almaden Services Research, where he designs and implements new methodologies for data visualization and text mining. Mr. Spangler holds a B.S. degree in math from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A. in computer science from the University of Texas.

 

Jeffrey T. Kreulen

IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120 (email: [e-mail])

Dr. Kreulen is Senior Manager of Services Oriented Technologies and Senior Technical Staff Member at the IBM Almaden Research Center. He holds a B.S. degree in applied mathematics (computer science) from Carnegie-Mellon University, and an M.S. degree in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in computer engineering from Pennsylvania State University. Since joining IBM in 1992, he has worked on multiprocessor systems design and verification, operating systems, systems management, web-based service delivery, integrated text and data analysis, and the science of services.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: IBM Press; 1 edition (July 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0132339536
• ISBN-13: 978-0132339537
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written and insightful, August 4, 2007

By 

Conor O'MAHONY (Belmont, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mining the Talk: Unlocking the Business Value in Unstructured Information (Paperback)

A very interesting and well-written book about an emerging technology that is sure to revolutionize many solutions. The authors do a great job of explaining complex concepts in very easy-to-understand language. A healthy number of examples help make this book a quick and informative read. The authors reveal not only details about the technology, but also about their methodology for "Mining the Talk". Recommended for anyone interested in unlocking the value in their unstructured information assets.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding the real value in your unstructured data..., March 14, 2008

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mining the Talk: Unlocking the Business Value in Unstructured Information (Paperback)

So how many of you IT professionals have faced this particular question from someone in your IT organization? "We have so much data locked up in (email/forums/wikis/etc.), and we can't analyze it".

Thought so...

I had the opportunity to read and review the book Mining the Talk: Unlocking the Business Value in Unstructured Information, and I think it's one of those books that can change the way your organization views this type of data.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Mining Customer Interactions
3. Mining the Voice of the Customer
4. Mining to Improve Innovation
5. Mining to See the Future
6. Future Applications
7. The IBM Unstructured Information Modeler Users Manual
Index

Spangler and Kreulen are IBMers who have spent a lot of time working with the concepts behind mining data that resides in unstructured formats. This could be web pages, help desk tickets, discussion database, or what have you. Once you step outside the structured world of relational databases and official taxonomies, it's often thought that the only way to get a feel for what's happening is to have someone responsible for reading it all. But there *is* a better way...

Using a tool named The IBM Unstructured Information Modeler, they show how you can use software to analyze unformatted data, cluster the results and keywords, and develop a real taxonomy that covers what is truly happening in your business. For instance, your help desk system probably has categorization fields. But you'll never get all the combinations that could happen, nor will every last help desk person categorize things in the same way. Using this tool, you can pass in the unstructured data (comment fields) and start to get a feel for what really is happening. Then by refining and grouping the initial results, the taxonomy for the target data can be accurately grouped for even larger datasets. The net result is a true view into what issues are occurring most often, in what combinations, as well as where most of the issues come from. These combinations might remain hidden if you rely on typical structured reporting based on static categorization. But with a little effort, you can start to gain insights not readily available by other means.

Even better... There's a version of the software tool that is downloadable from the AlphaWorks site, so you can start experimenting with your own data mining efforts. The install is straight-forward and easy, so it's not as if you'll spend two days trying to get a proof-of-concept going. You could easily pull off an initial test in a couple of hours, and then use that to decide if you need to expand your efforts to a larger dataset and the licensed version of the software.

Think of what this means for all your discussion and document databases out there. No longer would you need to "apologize" for not having the capabilities to analyze and mine the information stored out there. A 15 minute rollout of a discussion database can start paying immediate communication dividends, and then the mining tool could be used to spot trends and hot points. That's some powerful abilities coupled with immediate ROI to the business. Can't beat that combination...

It's well worth the time to pick up a copy of this book and try out the mining software. You might even want to run it against your mail file to see where and who is taking most of *your* time and attention.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mining The Talk, August 6, 2007

By 

William H. Barber - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mining the Talk: Unlocking the Business Value in Unstructured Information (Paperback)

The authors directed the book primarily to the business and engineering fields. However, their writing is easily comprehended and does not require an extensive knowledge of data mining and analysis. Thus the book should prove useful in other fields including, but not limited to research in education and the social sciences.

This interesting book should prove valuable as supplemental text in college and university courses, as well as a stand-alone reference for persons involved with obtaining and using data.

William H. Barber
Professor Emeriti
Midwestern State University