1. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved MetaSearch - Searching What it involves How to survive in world without standards Dr Peter Noerr, MuseGlobal, Inc.

2. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved The (non) Metasearch Search 1 Search 2 Search 3 Search 1 - Find Search Engine - Logon - Compose search - Run search - Study results - Refine results - Find document - Get document Search 2 - Find search engine - Logon - Compose search - Run search - Study results - Refine results - Find document - GetdDocument Search 3..............

3. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Metasearch Search 1 - Find MetaSearch Engine - Logon - Compose search - Select Sources - Run search (Metasearch engine runs Searches 1a,b,c) - Study results - Refine results - Find document - Get document Search 1aSearch 1b Search 1c

4. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved The MetaSearch - Benefits About half the time One logon ( authentication ) One search syntax Simple Source selection Consistent results display Consistent refinement tools ( sort, dedupe … ) One click to get full text ( or doc delivery )

5. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved The MetaSearch - Problems Connection protocols –Multiple standards Poor implementation Patchy implementation Local variations –Proprietary protocols Changes with time ( http/html mostly ) Semantics Record formats Inconsistent Source functionality Authentication Source selection

6. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved The MetaSearch – Work Flow Find MetaSearch engine Authenticate Search Results Document(s) Peter Tamar Janifer

7. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved Searching – Components for ONE Source Authentication Connection handling Secondary processing Results re-formatting Profile Result Set handling Session management Profile Stateful, stateless; priority; permissions; personalisation (Optional), field mapping, character encoding, record enrichment Protocol, single/dialogue, search syntax, semantic mapping Type(IP, ID/pwd. URL…) by Provider, by institution, Proxy use, values (Optional), Combine/not results, Canonical format, key generation, (Optional), In-Search processing, Secondary search,

8. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved Future Challenges Protocols Standards – Z39.50/SRW/SRU, Xquery, CQL XML protocols, MetaSearch access Semantics exposed ontologies (OWL) Functionality Search engine evolution Data Metadata standards (inc semantics of data) Source Description Standards – Explain, RDF, UDDI, WSDL Functionality, access, syntax, semantics, formats These items are being worked on by the NISO (www.niso.org) Metasearch Initiative committees. Participation is welcomed from all, from anywhere.www.niso.org

9. Copyright © 1998 – 2003 MuseGlobal, Inc. All Rights Reserved Conclusion This is not a simple task: the technology is sophisticated, the numbers are daunting; Content Providers (organisations) 4,000 worldwide (est.) Sources (databases, search engines, etc.) 10,000 worldwide (est.) Muse’s Global Source Library 2,500 worldwide Contact the author: Dr Peter Noerr, CTO, Museglobal pnoerr@museglobal.com www.museglobal.com +1 801 208 1880