Federated search blogs, presentations, and a report

My interest in federated search, over the last few years, had led me to follow a few federated search blogs, attended related presentations and -- this year -- write a report on federated search. So let's take a quick look at what's out there, in case this topic also interests you.

Blogs: Here are five that are in my blog reader. There may, of course, be others.

• The Blog Libific by Peter McCracken, librarian and co-founder of Serials Solutions
• Federated Search Blog written primarily by Sol Lederman and sponsored by Deep Web Technologies
• MUSEings written by MuseGlobal CEO Kate Noerr
• Search Done Right, a team blog by Vivisimo, which is a more broadly focused blog
• Beyond Search by Steve Arnold at Arnold IT, which focuses on all corners of the search industry, including federated search

Articles: Well, there are ton of articles on federated search and many of them are good. If you are interested in the topic, I would suggest skimming many articles so you can get a feel for the points of view being expressed. That will help you to narrow down on the types of articles that will be useful to you. For example, are you interested in articles about the industry or in articles on specific implementations? Do you only want to read articles on specific software?

Besides using an Internet search engine to find articles, be sure to use the databases at your library.

Presentations: I suspect that every library-related conference contains several presentations on federated search. Here are a few from 2008:

• Federated Searching: Giving Users What They Want, October 2008, Bonnie Swoger and three others
• Bearcat Search: Implementing Federated Searching at the Newman Library, March 2008, Stephen Francoeur and four others
• What’s new in Federated Search, April 2008, Frank Cervone and Jeff Wisniewski
• Trends and Patterns of MetaLib Usage at a Large Academic Library, August 2008, by Frank Cervone

A Report: The Federated Search Report and Tool Kit, which I wrote for Free Pint, has been well-received. The report includes chapters and activities that guide you through the process of selecting a federated solution. And at £39.00 (or ~US $62.40), it is worthwhile investment. (Of course, I'm biased!)

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Technorati tag: Federated Search