Search is a human-made procedure for locating relevant items within a collection. Its parameters: (1) a target collection or space to examine, (2) criteria or a query specifying what is sought, (3) a scanning or querying mechanism applied to the collection, (4) a set of results matching the criteria. Persistence mechanism: sustained through information technology, library science, and habitual practice of querying collections. [formal: quaerere | substrate: behavior | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
search
Search is a human-made procedure for locating relevant items within a collection. Its parameters: (1) a target collection or space to examine, (2) criteria or a query specifying what is sought, (3) a scanning or querying mechanism applied…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made procedure — the systematic process of locating relevant information or items within a collection by applying criteria, rules, or algorithms. Institutionalized through indexing, categorization, and retrieval systems across libraries, databases, and everyday practice.
Names and aliases
- searchen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrng8t8a02cyd1nlcuj11wc0DEPENDS_ON →
Search operates by navigating representational systems. Remove representation — the structured mapping of information — and search as a practice stops operating: there is nothing structured to search through. This is a constitutive dependency, not a meta-level claim about concepts needing language.
- cmrgrc7ac0027yvn1hxa549vhDEPENDS_ON →
Search requires directing and focusing attention. The removal test: remove attention and search cannot operate — there is no mechanism to filter signal from noise, to home in on targets. Attention is the operating mechanism without which search collapses.
Relations to this entry
- cmsml0cz701pk1q13rxnfwvq8← SERVES
Information retrieval is built and maintained for the sake of search — its designed purpose is to find and rank relevant information in response to search queries. SERVES: servant→master.
- cmsmxmvya02he1q13du6ooj84← DEPENDS_ON
search-engine needs search to operate now — the removal test: remove search and the search-engine has no function. Search is the operational core that the search-engine builds upon.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 22, 2026, 12:49 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 38fb1e883a8af6d5392679eae5533e2dfdd748114c5b57a54d4605ac9fb731e0