I know from personal experience that many use general purpose search engines for every kind of search, giving little regard to the search engine's strengths or speciality. Wolfram|Alpha comes along at a time when students enter homework questions or algebraic expressions into search engines praying for the correct result. Other users seeking mathematical, statistical, or factual data often turn to popular search engines like Google or Bing, which may produce the desired result but return a list of links requiring users to dig deeper for answers. Wolfram|Alpha delivers more than a list of links. Stephen Wolfram describes Wolfram|Alpha as an ‘ambitious long-term project' with the goal of ‘making the world's knowledge computable'.
The data in Wolfram|Alpha is organised so that it may be used in computations, not just searched and found. Wolfram|Alpha is a powerful warehouse of knowledge that makes data useful through its computational abilities. Wolfram|Alpha produces more than the end result; it gives historical data, tables, timelines and charts to make sense of the data. As a computation engine, it answers specific questions about objective facts rather than general information queries, and produces results only about publicly available information. As such it is not the best resource for queries such as phone numbers, addresses, business locations, popular culture, however it does have a place in the search landscape.
Scope Unlike general purpose search engines, Wolfram|Alpha's speciality is factual knowledge, particularly public knowledge. Its subject areas range from mathematics and statistical analysis, and chemistry to astronomy, geography, socioeconomic data and sports. Most recently, Wolfram|Alpha added nutritional data, crime data, and physical activity data whereby users input data such as activity, time, gender, and age and receive calories burned and distance as output. Wolfram|Alpha gives real-time stock quotes, weather history as far back as 100 years, and some quantifiable popular culture information such as movie box-office figures.
Much of Wolfram|Alpha's data comes from primary sources or is derived by computations. The data is reviewed by experts prior to adding it to the knowledge base. In fact, the output includes a link to source information. The computation engine is continuously updated, sometimes in real-time.
Wolfram|Alpha is fast becoming popular with teachers and is a good resource for ready-reference questions. Much like you would consult an almanac, physics handbooks, or the Statistical Abstract of the United States, you may now turn to Wolfram|Alpha for basic and complex data needs.
Search Wolfram|Alpha accepts free-form linguistic queries (input) allowing users to input an entire question, but prefers that users input the minimum number of words necessary for clear communication of the desired output. It takes trial and error to craft the best interpretable query as it does not always interpret the input as the user intended. Wolfram|Alpha works by ranking possible interpretations of the input, returning the result that is most plausible. It also returns a list of links to other possible interpretations. Depending on the input, results may be based on the users IP address as Wolfram|Alpha uses GeoIP.
When Wolfram|Alpha cannot interpret your input, your output is a message with a link to tips for good results (see Figure 1). Unfortunately, unlike general purpose search engines, Wolfram|Alpha does not always return suggestions if it cannot interpret your query nor inform you that you have misspelled a word. For example, I entered ‘machu pechu' and it did not correct my spelling and was unable interpret my query. Wolfram|Alpha is a work in progress; every geographic location is not in the database and the output is not yet consistent in its richness of detail.
Fig. 1
When searching for birth rate comparisons, I first tried ‘compare birth rates United States vs. New Zealand' but Wolfram|Alpha could not interpret my input. Next, I input ‘birth rates United States vs. New Zealand' and Wolfram|Alpha returned the desired results. When using Wolfram|Alpha, the results are usually what I am seeking, in the desired format, though it may take a few minutes to construct an interpretable query.
Unfortunately, Wolfram|Alpha does not offer much in the way of search tips other than the suggestion to try different query terms or notations and check your spelling. Wolfram|Alpha does not use Boolean operators nor does it use particular search syntax. Users may view the Examples or Visual Gallery to get a better understanding of query construction. On each results page Wolfram|Alpha allows users to search the web for answers, linking to Google with the search query already input.
For the simple input, ‘Berkeley CA', Wolfram|Alpha returned the population of the city, current local time, current weather, economic properties such as median home price and unemployment rate, nearby cities noting distance and population, and interestingly a list of notable people connected with Berkeley, CA (see Figure 2). By contrast, both Google and Bing return links associated with the query with Bing returning additional information such as weather, attractions and events.
Fig. 2
As noted earlier, users also may input full questions such as ‘How tall is the statue of liberty?' and Wolfram|Alpha returns the exact result desired without the need to click additional links. Users will appreciate the quick access to data particularly for ready reference questions and those quick questions that arise when researching an unfamiliar topic (see Figure 3).
Fig. 3
Wolfram|Alpha easily compares data returning a summary of data and related tables and charts. It may be used to compare birth rates between countries, for example ‘birth rates United States New Zealand' or stock prices of two or more companies, for example ‘stock prices AAPL AMZN' (see Figure 4) if one wanted to compare stock prices of the two companies before and after the release of the iPad.
Fig. 4
Wolfram|Alpha handles much more complex input making it a handy tool for students. I have seen users input entire mathematical formulae into Google expecting it to produce the answer. Well, Wolfram|Alpha does just that and shows its steps. Some may think this disrupts the learning process but Wolfram|Alpha has actually been embraced by the academic community. For example, the ‘Walpha Wiki', explores ways to use Wolfram|Alpha in secondary and undergraduate maths education. Last year, Wolfram|Alpha held a Homework Day with education advocates, teachers, and students sharing how they use Wolfram|Alpha to enhance learning.
Output Users may generate a PDF version of the results with one click, as well as interact live with Mathematica. This interaction requires the downloading of a Mathematica player and gives users a richer experience of the data such as 3D graphics and more manipulation of the data. While Wolfram|Alpha presents some data graphically or with sound, it does not offer formats like video.
Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious work in progress. It offers the everyday web user access to quantitative, peer-reviewed data in a format not available by general purpose search engines. For researchers and librarians, Wolfram|Alpha is a valuable ready-reference tool providing high-level sources for additional information. Available online, on your mobile phone and as an app for the iPhone and iPad, Wolfram|Alpha is expert systematic data and computations at your fingertips.
Africa S. Hands has over 10 years experience with a focus on social science research and higher education. She worked in institutional research and the public library sector before opening a private research company, Hands On Research Solutions, in 2008. Africa is experienced in online research, survey development, subject recruiting, focus groups moderation, and loves qualitative research. She teaches workshops on search engines and social media, and is a member of AIIP and SLA. Contact: ahands@handsonresearchsolutions.com.
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I know from personal experience that many use general purpose search engines for every kind of search, giving little regard to the search engine's strengths or speciality. Wolfram|Alpha comes along at a time when students enter homework questions or algebraic expressions into search engines praying for the correct result. Other users seeking mathematical, statistical, or factual data often turn to popular search engines like Google or Bing, which may produce the desired result but return a list of links requiring users to dig deeper for answers. Wolfram|Alpha delivers more than a list of links. Stephen Wolfram describes Wolfram|Alpha as an ‘ambitious long-term project' with the goal of ‘making the world's knowledge computable'.
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