Overview of Federated Searching Presented by: Peter Kanehiro LIS 672: Technology for Libraries & Information Centers (Fall 2009) Dr. Luz M. Quiroga University of Hawai‘i at M ā noa November 25,

Outline What’s Federated Searching? Selection: What to Look for UH Libraries, HSPLS Representative Products Demo: OSU LibraryFind Conclusion References 2

What’s Federated Searching? (1) Federated Search: “A search for information using software designed to query multiple networked information resources via single interface.” - Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science 3

What’s Federated Searching? (2) Search scope: expanded – OPACs (local, remote), databases (abstracting, full text), digital repositories, WWW (including “deep Web”) Software: federated search engine – Standardized protocol (Z39.50, SRW/SRU, MXG) Results presentation: uniform interface – Ranking: software feature that weights records by the degree to which they meet the query’s requirements – Deduping: removal of all but 1 occurrence of a record 4

What’s Federated Searching? (3) “[Database searchers] don’t go to see if another database might have more and/or better results…. Most give up and angrily leave…. They’ll go to Google….” – Dr. P é ter J á cso 5

What’s Federated Searching? (4) How can the search burden be eased? 6

Selection: What to Look for Library administrator’s perspective – Administration module’s capabilities – Hosting – Pricing User’s perspective – Interface – Search progress indicator – Results display 7

8 UH Libraries, HSPLS (1) 2 local library systems in Hawaii – Relevant to UHM students – Easily accessible 8

UH Libraries, HSPLS (2) UH: LibraryFind (planned) HSPLS: Web Feat 9

Representative Products (1) WebFeat Express – Vendor: WebFeat ( – Key characteristics: compatible with 9K dBs, native results, customizable, sort options, exportability WebFeat Enterprise (multi-library version): – Key characteristic: multiple access profiles, multiple library use tracking, multi-library authentication 10

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (1) Type: “an open source metasearch application developed by librarians for libraries, built with Ruby on Rails.” Developer: Oregon State University libraries Features: – Open URL resolver – Ability to locally index collections – Web-based administration – 3-tiered caching system (improves search speed) – Customizable user interface 11

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (2) Support resources (libraryfind.org) – Blog-like online discussion – Documentation – Downloads Community ThreadSubjectAuthorDate 12

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (3) 13 Search box 13

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (4) Sort by: Relevance Author (A-Z) Date (newest 1 st ) Author (Z-A) Date (oldest 1 st ) Refine results: Material types Subjects Authors Databases Search results 14

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (5) (format)Title Author Content description YearPublisher, other facts of publication CitationSave This ItemMore from ‘OCLC WorldCat’ Book record 15

Demo: OSU LibraryFind (6) [Article]Title CitationSave This ItemFull Abstract Short abstract or other information (e.g., availability). Article record 16

Conclusion Convenient – Easy to use: single interface – Saves time: searches multiple sources simultaneously Products – Fit institution’s capabilities/budget Commercial Open source 17

References “Federated Search.” Wikipedia (accessed November 19, 2009). Hawaii State Public Library System (accessed November 22, 2009). Jacso, Peter. “Thoughts about Federated Searching.” Information Today 21, issue 9: xh&AN= &site=ehost-live (accessed November 19, 2009). xh&AN= &site=ehost-live Kochtanek, Thomas R. and Joseph R. Matthews. Library Information Systems: From Library Automation to Distributed Information Access Solutions. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, Lederman, Sol. “Federated Search Finds Content that Google Can’t Reach Part I of III.” Alt Search Engines part-i-of-iii/ (accessed November 19, 2009). LibraryFind (accessed November 21, 2009). Linoski, Alexis and Tine Walczyk. “Federated Search 101.” Library Journal Volume 133 (Summer 2008) (accessed November 19, 2009). Oregon State University. (accessed November 21, 2009). Reitz, J. M. ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (accessed November 20, 2009). WebFeat (accessed November 22, 2009). Webster, Peter M. “Challenges for Federated Searching.” Internet Reference Services Quarterly 12, issue 3 / 4 (2007): xh&AN= &site=ehost-live (accessed November 21, 2009). xh&AN= &site=ehost-live 18

19 Thank You for Your Attention! 19