fis 1325 online information retrieval
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FIS 1325 Online Information Retrieval. Federated Searching Erik Brea February 26, 27, 28, 2008. What Is Federated Searching?. Searches across multiple databases across various disciplines “One-stop shopping” approach Attempt to make searches faster, easier and more comprehensive. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
FIS 1325 Online Information Retrieval
Federated Searching
Erik BreaFebruary 26, 27, 28, 2008
What Is Federated Searching?
Searches across multiple databases across various disciplines
“One-stop shopping” approach Attempt to make searches faster,
easier and more comprehensive
Why Federated Searching? Large number of academic articles
published per year Need for libraries to “Google-ize”
their resources to make them easily accessible
Increase ease-of-use for students Migration of most academic
material from print to electronic format
Federated Search Providers
CSA Illumina (Scholar’s Portal) EBSCO ProQuest
SFX and Federated Searching
The “link” between searches and library holdings
Acts as a means for students to check if an article is available, and in what format
Presents value-added content, such as links to citation software, Ulrich periodical directory, and linking to Blackboard
SFX Features at U of T
SFX Features at U of T
Federated Searching Advantages
Can search across various disciplines at one time using one interface (“Google approach”)
Opens up resources that students may otherwise overlook, such as articles in a discipline outside their field of study
Makes students more aware of the resources available at a particular university via SFX
Federated Searching Disadvantages
Absence of unified search terms, thesauri and vocabulary
Lack of precision as searches encompass various disciplines
Many results may be irrelevant to users, thus wasting time and effort and discouraging further searching
Useful for general, “shallow” searches but not for more in-depth searches in a given area
Problems with stable URLs and availability for articles from different providers
Federated Searching
Hands-on example: attempt a search using a generic term, such as “development”
Terms can mean many different things in different disciplines
Federated Searching: what’s next
U of T to roll out Endeca, which takes federated searching further
Will give users the ability to search article indexes and catalogue holdings simultaneously
Federated Searching: the debate Does federated searching save time and
effort in searching? Does it meet user needs by being a “one-
stop” search? OR
Does it over-simplify the process? Is federated searching limited because of
the lack of thesauri and common search terms?
Does it lead to “good-enough” results, and not the best results?