1. A search authoring tool for mapping queries to assets for use in an information retrieval system, the search authoring tool comprising: a query-to-asset mappings database of mappings built from search author input and user mappings; a search authoring engine adapted to receive operator input and to generate one or more new query-to-asset mappings based on the received operator input; and a search evaluation engine adapted to compare the one or more new query-to-asset mappings to the existing mappings to determine if the one or more new query-to-asset mappings will cause performance degradation of the information retrieval system.