Searching for experts in the enterprise

Abstract

Employees depend on other people in the enterprise for rapid access to important information. But current systems for finding experts do not adequately address the social implications of finding and engaging strangers in conversation. This paper provides a user study of SmallBlue, a social-context-aware expertise search system that can be used to identify experts, see dynamic profile information and get information about the social distance to the expert, before deciding whether and how to initiate contact. The system uses an innovative approach to privacy to infer content and dynamic social networks from email and chat logs. We describe usage of SmallBlue and discuss implications for the next generation of enterprise-wide systems for finding people.