Federated SearchingGiving users what they want

Michelle Costello, Justina Elmore, Bonnie Swoger & Tom Ottaviano

Milne Library, SUNY Geneseo

LiSUG: Brewing Up SolutionsOctober 10, 2008

Federated Search Process Time Line

Federated Searching What to expect

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Selecting DatabasesLimit of 50 databases. Additional databases cost more.

Some databases will have multiple options in the selection console, even within the same vendor.

Testing is required to determine which version of a database to use.

Ultimately, tickets can be sent to WebFeat for databases that do not work.

Most tickets are handled promptly and efficiently, some take a while. We have one that has gone unresolved for well over a month.

Subject….ifying databases

After selecting databases you’ll want to determine how users will search them. Adding them to different subject categories makes this much more manageable, particularly for users who do not know what a specific database searches.

Consistency Issues?

Jstor example

Sage Journals Example

Inconveniences – The Ugly

Print Results page example E-mail results page example

The Print Results and E-mail results page are essentially the same. Note how there is no database listed in the Print Results page, and no link provided in the E-mail results page.

Adjusting the look and feel - Basic

Add a logo

Customize colors

Adjusting the look and feel - Advanced

Adding custom headers and footers

Importing external style sheets .oulinkbuttonout { font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times, serif; color: #fff; background-color: #333366; border: 2px #ccc outset; padding: 2px 2px; margin-right: 3px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: hand; }

Promotion

Usability

Instruction

http://federatedsearchprocess.pbwiki.comFor additional information:

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