Federated Searching: A Viable Alternative to Web Surfing

Fiehn, Barbara. "Federated Searching: A Viable Alternative to Web Surfing" TechNewsWorld (21 March 2004). [Via Current Cites]

You'll be hearing lots more about federated search. Simple definition --searching a variety of resources (databases, OPACs, the Web) from a single interface. The biggest advantage is the most obvious -- no need for the end user to hop from resource to resource in order to access all that an institution has available online. Some vendors' products will group results by source which, in essence, can show the user which resources are likely to be most useful for his/her particular information need. And the user only has to learn one search interface. But single-interface searching also has some downsides. Federated search technology is not quite "there" yet as far as relevance and de-duping are concerned. Also, the single interface may not permit the end user to take advantage of whatever sophisticated search features are offered by the individual resources. And this relatively new technology may prove challenging for librarians and IT people alike. If you don't have adequate in-house resources, hosting solutions may be available.

Posted by Tom on April 02, 2004