[WEB4LIB] Definition of Metasite or Megasite?

[P. F. (Pat) Anderson]

>I always read this two words on the Net or articles. In addition, I read
>an article which mentioned mega search engine, such as Savvysearch that
>I usually call as metasearch engine. Could anyone instruct me the
>difference or the definition? Thank you very much in advance.

The difference is (of course) conceptual. "Mega" simply means big.
A site that is self-identified as a megasite may or may not include
information from outside sites, and the information may or may not
be filtered or evaluated. "Meta", however, implies a very specific
type of conceptual relationship. This concept is best "defined"
through example or illustration.

metadata = data about data
meta-analysis = analysis of research which performs analysis or review
    of a given topic
meta-search engine = a search engine which searches primarily other
    large search engines
metasite = a site which collects or presents information about other
    sites.

Both of these are fairly vague terms, and seem to be used interchangeably
by a great many people. I am one of the coordinators of the Metasite
Project (http://www.lib.umich.edu/megasite/). As you can see from the
URL, we have had some disagreement within our research team about
which term to use and when. We are in the process of switching from
"Megasite" to "Metasite." Our site collects and presents analysis
of health information *megasites*. So, our site is a metasite, presenting
information about megasites. You can easily see the potential
confusion!

Pat Anderson

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P. F. (Pat) Anderson                  734/763-2953, voice
Dentistry Library, Univ. Michigan     734/764-4477, fax
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