The UK's JISC has released a report on text mining, a complex and innovative method of searching and analysing data. The report shows that text mining has huge potential benefits for the UK economy and knowledge base, but its use is being held back by copyright law and other barriers.
Text mining draws on data analysis techniques such as natural language processing and information extraction to find new knowledge and meaningful patterns within large collections. The business benefit of text mining is in identifying emerging trends, and to explore consumer preferences and competitor developments. It is particularly used in larger companies as part of their customer relationship management strategy and in the pharmaceutical industry as part of its R&D strategy.
The report shows that such techniques could enable researchers in UK universities to gain new knowledge that would otherwise remain undiscovered because there is just too much relevant literature for any one person to read. Such discoveries could lead to benefits for society and the economy.
The UK has a number of strengths that put it in a good position to be a key player in text mining development, it is observed. The strengths include the existence of good framework conditions for innovation and the natural advantage of its native language.
The report shows the importance of implementing the recommendations of the Hargreaves Review as current copyright law is also imposing restrictions, since text mining involves a range of computerised analytical processes which are not all readily permitted within UK intellectual property law. In order to be 'mined', text must be accessed, copied, analysed, annotated and related to existing information and understanding. Even if the user has access rights to the material, making annotated copies can be illegal under current copyright law without the permission of the copyright holder.
The report identifies a number of barriers that need to overcome to make best use of text mining tools in the future. Firstly, text mining is a complex technical process that requires skilled staff; secondly it requires unrestricted access to information sources; thirdly copyright can be a barrier. The report authors conclude that more work needs to be undertaken to raise awareness of the potential benefits and value of text mining to UK further and higher education.
A recent event at the Wellcome Trust started the process of looking at how publishers, researchers and policy makers can make this happen.
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