SearchKat

Abstract

SearchKat is a searchable database built on Apache Solr. The database was created with the purpose of being able to search Hurricane Katrina narratives that were gathered from survivors. The project was carried out in Spring 2015 in CS4624 (Multimedia, Hypertext, and Information Access) with Dr. Edward Fox as the professor and Dr. Katie Carmichael as the project client.

SearchKat has user specified word groupings which were determined by Dr. Carmichael in order to make the database thematically searchable, with each of these word groupings being considered a theme. The system can both search by these word groupings as well as by generic word associations such as synonyms.

The database has customized fields displayed when a query is performed. We have created a CSV file which stores the filename, line number, and line content for each line through all of the files. We use this information to display this relevant data whenever a search is performed.

Description
Class project for Dr. Fox's CS4624 Spring 2015 class Multimedia, Hypertext, and Information Access. The uploaded files are 2 .zip files. Unzipping "CS4624Spring2015solr-5.0.0" will give a directory named "solr-5.0.0." It contains all of the files needed to run the SearchKat database. The presentation (included as a PowerPoint and PDF) and the final report (included as a Microsoft Word document and PDF) are also included. The second .zip file contains the remaining files. Instructions to run SearchKat are in the files "CS4624Spring2015SearchKatFinalReport" provided in both PDF and DOCX formats. Various other details including a history of the project can also be found in these files. Explanations/directions for other files included are also in this report. "CS4624Spring2015KatrinaPresentation" is the file used for the final presentation our team gave in Dr. Fox's class.
Keywords
SearchKat, Hurricane Katrina, Database, Multimedia, Hypertext, and Information Access
Citation