NISO MetaSearch project (was: [diglib] Thesaurus press release)

Previously, MacKenzie forwarded an announcement of the NISO Thesausus project.
Another interesting NISO project is the MetaSearch, apparently spawned from
discussions at ALA in Jan:

http://www.niso.org/committees/MetaSearch-info.html

MetaSearch Initiative

Metasearch, parallel search, federated search, broadcast search,
cross-database search, search portal have become commonplace in the
information community's vocabulary. They speak to a common theme of allowing
search and retrieval to span multiple databases, sources, platforms,
protocols, and vendors at once.

One-search access to multiple resources holds the promise of enabling
libraries to offer portal environments so their users can enjoy the same easy
searching found in web-based services like Google. Unlike Google, however, a
library's metasearch services must offer access to multiple database targets
with heterogeneous content and accessibility. As a result, metasearch services
rely on a variety of approaches to search and retrieval including open
standards (such as NISO's Z39.50), proprietary API's, and screen scraping. The
absence of widely supported standards, best practices, and tools makes the
metasearch environment less efficient for the system provider, the content
provider, and the end-user.

Recognizing that cross database search capabilities and metasearching tools
are a growth area in the marketplace, a leading group of content aggregators
and library systems and services providers convened an open meeting at the
American Library Association midwinter conference in Philadelphia in January
2003 to discuss those aspects of metasearching which impact both system
performance and the content providers' delivery of services to libraries.

To continue this important dialog NISO is sponsoring a Metasearch Initiative
that will enable:

* metasearch service providers to offer more effective and responsive services
* content providers to deliver enhanced content and protect their intellectual
property
* libraries to deliver services that distinguish their services from Google
and other free web services.

The first major activity will be a 2-day Strategy Workshop on May 7-8, 2003 in
Denver, CO.

Received on Monday, 7 April 2003 11:37:28 UTC