<$BlogRSDUrl$> Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
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Sunday, July 04, 2004  

The Metasearch Initiative: Looking for Data in All the Right Places
http://snipurl.com/7ig2

Whether you call it metasearch, federated search or broadcast search, the idea of exploring multiple resources using a single interface has long been the pipe dream of libraries. Unfortunately, most of the disparate data resources patrons want to search serve their data in many different ways, or not at all. While Google and the like search anything, the challenge for the library profession is to create ways to search well in all the right places. At the 2003 ALA Midwinter Meeting, three vendors -- EBSCO, Gale and ProQuest -- met to discuss the problem. Led by the National Information Standards Organization, workshop meetings were held and the Metasearch Initiative was formed. With a mix of librarians, publishers and library-software providers, the Metasearch Initiative has drawn the participation of more than 60 individuals from five countries. Even large publishers who have already developed proprietary XML gateways are involved. The Metasearch Initiative intends to identify, develop, and frame the standards and other common understandings needed to enable an efficient and robust information environment. The Metasearch Initiative's goals are to enable service providers to offer more effective and responsive services, help content providers deliver enhanced content while protecting their intellectual property, and enable libraries to deliver services that distinguish their offerings from Google and other free Web search services.

posted by Marcus Zillman | 4:15 AM
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