A personalized geoWeb search engine based on user intent recognition

Geospatial Web (GeoWeb) represents the collection of web resource that contain geospatial components, such as maps, geocoded images, web services hosting geospatial data, etc. Similar to general web resources, GeoWeb resources are scattered on the widely-distributed Internet, where the identification and integration of GeoWeb resources become a challenging task. In order to facilitate geospatial data discovery, we argue that a GeoWeb search engine is necessary. While GeoWeb Crawlers can proactively discover GeoWeb resources, establishing semantic relationships between GeoWeb resource helps discover relevant resources. However, in order to further facilitate GeoWeb resource discovery, we believe that a GeoWeb search engine needs to provide personalized search results. In this paper, we present the GeoWeb resource ontology, which contains necessary classes of a GeoWeb resource that integrate many domains ontologies. This ontology will help map and discover semantic relationships between concepts. To provide a personalized search, user models are constructed to illustrate the importance of concepts and their relations that represent user intents and interests. Therefore, in this research, we aim at analyzing user intents via user background information, search history, selected resources, etc., which are then applies to personalized search results. With the proposed solution, a GeoWeb search engine can provide personalized results and consequently help users find targeted GeoWeb resources more efficiently.