Text mining tools and technologies have a long history in the repository world,where they have been applied successfully for a variety of purposes. These vary from pragmatic aims such as enabling document search and browse facilities, linking related documents, identifying copies or facilitating the deposit process, to support tools for academic research. The latter category includes supporting research on the basis of a large body of documents, facilitating access to and reuse of existing work, and connecting the formal academic world with areas such as the traditional and social media.

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) have funded a number of projects and initiatives in both areas, notably NaCTeM and the ResDis programme. Research areas as diverse as biology, chemistry, sociology and criminology have seen effective use made of text mining technologies.  However, the uptake and hence the impact of these tools has been uneven. Several obstacles to development and deployment are frequently cited, including the maturity, complexity, and in some instances cost of software packages, as well as scarcity of relevant technical skills. Text mining methods and tools can be fragile and complex, requiring significant set-up time and effort. Projects making use of text mining may also suffer from legal obstacles, such as copyright and intellectual property considerations. The benefit to be gained from deployment of text-mining tools in areas such as institutional repositories or as a research tool in its own right may be difficult to predict without a costly pilot project.                                                                  

A horizon scan of the current text mining environment is to be carried out in Spring 2012, collecting viewpoints from JISC-funded projects, academia and industry on how a broad variety of text mining tools, techniques and approaches can directly benefit the end user. In particular, the reviewers focus on achievable goals and ensuring minimal overhead.  This workshop brings the authors from this publication face-to-face with participants, and will begin with presentations describing a variety of text mining applications, each of which will focus upon practically achievable use cases, tools, and outcomes. Attendees will learn about available tools, technologies, and methods, and will have time to discuss their own use cases with the workshop presenters. Presenters are encouraged to provide hands-on experience with the tools that they have developed and used. Attendees from various backgrounds may benefit:  developers, practitioners, researchers and repository managers with a practical interest in making use of these tools. Content and infrastructure providers may also benefit from learning about these tools. Text mining specialists are naturally also invited to take part.

Organisers: Paul Walk (UKOLN ISC), Emma Tonkin (UKOLN ISC), Torsten Reimer (JISC)