[WEB4LIB] Non-free metasearches Re: Re: [Fwd: Google, libraries,

[Karen Coyle]

On Tue, 2004-12-21 at 08:09, Jennifer A. Heise wrote:

> 
> Do we need to address the gonzo search directly? And if so, shouldn't we 
> address the one that costs us money first?

Jenne, this would be a very interesting perspective to bring to the NISO
metasearch initiative: 
  http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/niso-mi/index.php/Main_Page

There are task groups looking at various technical aspects of
metasearch, but I don't see anyone taking on the more social/economic
view that you propose. There is a group looking at search vocabulary,
but again it's from a technical not a reference or user service
standpoint. 

Ironically, the metasearch initiative came about (as I understand it)
because the vendors themselves were getting hit with so many searches
that their systems couldn't support the load. Basically, if every search
is a metasearch then every database gets hit for every search a user
does. 

kc

> 
> -- Jenne Heise
-- 
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Karen Coyle
Digital Library Specialist
http://www.kcoyle.net
Ph: 510-540-7596 Fax: 510-848-3913
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