I'm giving a presentation at Internet Librarian on federated search and am beginning to write the summary that will go into the conference proceedings. During my part of the session I'm going to talk about the benefits of federated search, as well as the shortcomings. Shortcomings? mmm...are they shortcomings or are they instances where the library didn't do enough upfront to understand what they were getting (and what they needed in order to make it work)? I'll explore that in the session. And I'll give some tips for vendors who selling federated search products to libraries. It should be a lively session!BTW the title of my part of the session is "Federated Searching Feedback: Walking the Talk?" (Session A105)
I do have two requests for you. First, let me know what interests you about federated search. This will help me as a prepare for my presentation. Second, if you know of any blogs that focus on federated search, please tell me (I haven't found any yet). You can leave a comment on this blog post with the information. Thanks!
Technorati tags:
Federated Search, 
IL2007
3 comments:
What interests me with federated search is the decrease in time spent conducting research. One login and you can search any number of databases. Plus, the searcher doesn't have to figure out the various database interfaces. I also like the idea of vertical federated searches. Instead of conducting the same search over and over again in each database, I could search Emerald, Academic Search Premier, NetLibrary, etc. all at once.
What interests me with federated search is the decrease in time spent conducting research. One login and you can search any number of databases. Plus, the searcher doesn't have to figure out the various database interfaces. I also like the idea of vertical federated searches. Instead of conducting the same search over and over again in each database, I could search Emerald, Academic Search Premier, NetLibrary, etc. all at once.
I am quite unimpressed with federated search as realized by products like MetaLib, WebFeats, etc.
What I do find useful are "federated" searches that begin on the desktop...with products like DevonAgent from Devonthink. I'll refer you to a blog post I did on DevonAgent a while back to illustrate how that sort of metasearching works where the 'one-size-fits-all' federated search host systems fail.
http://timesync.gmu.edu/wordpress/?p=284
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