Being able to make unexpected associations and connections can be the essence of
true discovery, as academics, lawyers and journalists know. Thanks to Bamboo,
the new probabilistic database application from Lemur, the chances of finding
what you are looking for, or discovering new facts and connections, have now
massively increased.
Bamboo is designed for large databases of mixed text and multimedia, and has
been developed by working closely with historians and anthropologists who have
needed powerful, flexible and intuitive software. Bamboo bridges the gap between
structured and unstructured data, and between precise Boolean searching and the
powerful probabilistic (Bayesian) system developed in Cambridge in the late 1970s.
Bamboo runs on a range of operating systems, and is scalable from a single user
PC to a large number of users accessing a server. Access is via a friendly,
modern interface on a standard web browser. Compliance with web standards
(XML, CSS, HTML, HTTP) allows flexible integration with other software. Bamboo
can import data from a wide variety of formats.
Professor Alan MacFarlane of the University of Cambridge uses Bamboo for a
number of research projects: "I had always sensed that half-forgotten treasures
were in my material, gathered over a long period. But ... only a small part of
what was relevant could be found ... Now, thanks to a powerful statistical
machine, all sorts of unexpected connections can be made to refresh the mind
and stimulate the imagination."
STOP PRESS: Lemur are supplying Bamboo as part of a £423k research project on the Rhodesian Army.