Trexy maps out web trail guides

A search trail technology, based on an idea first published 50 years ago, is allowing online information researchers to track back through previous searches.

Trexy , developed by a London based company, also has a social computing aspect, allowing users to follow the search trails of colleagues and share their trails with others.

Users can record their search trails at trexy.com or download a free Trexy Trailbar toolbar. They can also make their search trails available anonymously for other people to use. A Firefox internet browser version will soon be available.

The technology reflects the vision of US scientist Vannevar Bush, who was involved in the development of the atom bomb. In a paper he published in 1945, he envisaged a device called a memex that would create a collective memory by recording people’s trails through information ( click here for news on new search technology).

Megan Hamilton, director and cofounder with her brother of Trexy, said Trexy’s target market was individuals who relied on the internet to do their day-to-day jobs and had complex searching requirements ( click here for more search news).

“Trexy helps advanced searchers to capture the energy and effort they expend by remembering where users have searched and the web pages they visited,” she told IWR. “Trexy also enables researchers to share the information they have found to benefit others. Because it works with over 3,000 engines, trails can be created on topic-specific or specialist databases that contain information that may not be indexed by crawler-based engines such as Google .

“We have yet to find another company offering all the aspects that Trexy offers. Google, Yahoo and Ask  are offering techniques to personalise search and remember your searches but have yet to offer a service that harnesses the communal searching effort.”

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