Three research libraries (Iowa State, the University of Arizona, and Arizona State) have implemented federated discovery and delivery tools for their campuses using FD software (ZPORTAL, Z2Web, and related FD products). The remaining four participants expect to introduce the software to their campuses by early 2004. Iowa State University's version of the Scholars Portal, debuted in March 2003, it is often referred to as their "academic Google" for its ability to simply search across numerous core library resources -- often resulting in direct access to full-text journal articles. The Arizona State University Libraries released the Scholars Portal (renamed in its ASU implementation as Multi-Database Search) for the Fall 2003 semester, and the Multi-Database Search (MDS) provides users with a convenient way to simultaneously search groups of related databases. The University of Arizona is developing the technical and organizational requirements to provide the meta-search and direct linking features that enable users to search multiple resources and simultaneously link directly to the appropriate content.
posted by Marcus Zillman |
6:13 PM
