Archive for the "resources" Category

22
Mar

Articles on Discovery lists a number of categorized resources about discovery services. Categories include:

  • Basics
  • Historical
  • Presentations by vendors
  • Debates
  • Library experiences, evaluations & case studies
  • Misc comments on other issues
  • Wikis/rough notes
  • Hacking
  • Webcasts (not free)

This great resource page includes more than fifty links to articles on the subject.

I highly recommend that libraries interested in discovery services give extra attention to the articles in the debates and library experiences sections so that they can learn about the technology with their eyes wide open.

You can access my writings about discovery services here.

10
Jul

Blog sponsor Deep Web Technologies has just published a whitepaper, “Next-Generation” Federated Search: Critical for Intellectual Property Research.

The whitepaper explains why “Next-generation federated search technologies are quickly becoming an essential and indispensable tool for attorneys, paralegals, expert witnesses, and owners of IP to create, protect, monitor and litigate their intellectual property portfolios.”

Larry Donahue, Deep Web Technologies’ Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Counsel, authored the whitepaper. Mr. Donahue is licensed to practice law in New Mexico and Illinois and is a registered patent attorney thus he very well understands the information needs of the legal profession.

Intellectual property litigation is but one field of law in which missing important documentation in preparing a case can be a very costly mistake in court to say nothing of the loss in credibility. The right federated search solution, configured to search all the relevant sources, can serve to sufficiently widen the net to avoid missing critical information while keeping the legal staff out of overwhelm.

At just two pages, the paper is a quick yet impactful read. And, of course, there are many industries outside of law in which the cost of missing information is high.

20
Apr

I recently ran into this review of a new book, “Going Beyond Google.” The book is authored by Jane Devine and Francine Egger-Sider. The review got me curious so I contacted the publisher, Neal-Schuman, and got a review copy.

The book’s subtitle is “The Invisible Web in Learning and Teaching” and that’s what the book is about, educating people about the part of the web that many of us refer to as the deep Web. The book is targeted to students in LIS programs who are first learning about search technologies. The book aims to broaden their horizons and to wean them from the attitude that Google knows all. The book is a small paperback, just 156 pages, but it’s densely packed with information.

Read the rest of this entry »

27
Mar

Blog sponsor Deep Web Technologies asked me to produce a white paper on why the quality of search results matters so I wrote a four-pager — Quality, Not Quantity: The danger of overlooking quality of search results. I wrote the paper to be easy to read while packing a good amount of information.

The white paper is available from Deep Web Technologies’ web-site as a PDF document. The paper is divided into short sections, some with pithy titles:

  • Why quality of results matters
  • What does “quality of results” mean anyway?
  • Too many results, not enough time
  • It’s not a popularity contest: the dirty little secret of the search engine industry
  • The need for speed and the price you pay
  • The myopic focus on features
  • What really matters
  • How Federated Search fits the bill
  • Not all federated search engines are created equal

Read the rest of this entry »

30
Dec

Jill Hurst-Wahl of Digitization 101, yesterday published a list of blogs and presentations related to federated search. Here is Jill’s blog list:

Read the rest of this entry »

11
Dec

Alissa Miller has produced an impressive list of deep web-related resources for the Online College Blog. I’m particularly impressed at how much time Alissa must have spent researching resources for the list.

The list is divided into nine sections:

  1. Meta-Search Engines
  2. Semantic Search Tools and Databases
  3. General Search Engines and Databases
  4. Academic Search Engines and Databases
  5. Scientific Search Engines and Databases
  6. Custom Search Engines
  7. Collaborative Information and Databases
  8. Tips and Strategies
  9. Helpful Articles and Resources for Deep Searching

Read the rest of this entry »

8
Sep

In an effort to help customers to clarify their needs when considering federated search products and services, I’ve produced a list of over 100 questions to consider when you talk to vendors.

     100 Federated Search Requirements Questions To Ask Vendors

I’ve purposely published the document in Word format, rather than as a PDF file, so that you can edit the list, and copy and paste from the list, to meet your needs.

The checklist is categorized and includes questions pertinent to self-hosted or vendor-hosted. I will be soliciting input from a number of vendors to fill in any gaps in question or topic coverage.

Read the rest of this entry »

28
Jul

Computers in Libraries has published a set of four federated search vendor-sponsored white papers: Federated Search For Your Library and in Your Enterprise.

  1. Building a Better Search Query Through Content Mining, by Swets
  2. Discover: It’s Not About Federated Search, it’s About Discovery, by Gale
  3. Primo Discovery and Delivery - Beyond the OPAC: A unified interface for finding and getting all library resources, by ExLibris
  4. Taming Multiple Search Engines in Your Organization, by Jean Bedord

Read the rest of this entry »

18
Jul

There are a number of excellent federated search presentations, freely available for downloading, if you know where to find them. The list that follows is my attempt to identify a number of presentations that I consider to be outstanding, either because they provide an excellent overview of federated search, or because they cover some aspect of the industry exceptionally well. Is the list exhaustive? Of course, not. I think of it as a start and I would love to hear your comments about which ones should be added to the list. You should be aware that I favor recent presentations as things change quickly in this industry.

Most of the presentations are in PowerPoint, a few are PDF files, and a couple are in web-based embedded slide show applications. One is a video!

Read the rest of this entry »

15
Jul

Today, Library Journal put out a special section, “netConnect,” that includes four pretty meaty articles focused on federated search.

Josh Hadro, Associate Editor, LJ netConnect/Technology wrote the introduction to the edition.

I’ve not had time to read and absorb the articles but I wanted you to know about them.

Read the rest of this entry »