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

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

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?