The best of both worlds: highlighting the synergies of combining knowledge modelling and automated techniques to improve information search and discovery in oil and gas exploration

Research suggests organizations across all sectors waste a significant amount of time looking for information and often fail to leverage the information they have. In response, many organizations have deployed some form of enterprise search to improve the ‘findability’ of information. Debates persist as to whether thesauri and manual indexing or automated machine learning techniques should be used to enhance discovery of information. In addition, the extent to which a Knowledge Organization System (KOS) enhances discoveries or indeed blinds us to new ones remains a moot point. The oil and gas industry is used as a case study using a representative organization. Drawing on prior research, a theoretical model is presented which aims to overcome the shortcomings of each approach. This synergistic model could help to re-conceptualize the ‘manual’ versus ‘automatic’ debate in many enterprises, accommodating a broader range of information needs. This may enable enterprises to develop more effective information and knowledge management strategies and ease the tension between what are often perceived as mutually exclusive competing approaches. Certain aspects of the theoretical model may be transferable to other industries, which is an area for further research.