Research Tools - Fall 2007
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Research Pro: The Next-Generation of Federated Search
- The Innovative Interface Inc. (III) software for the Library's catalog also has software that enables users to simultaneously search across multiple sources in a "federated" search. The Weinberg Memorial Library has MetaFind for federated searching across databases, the catalog, and the Internet. With too many sources profiled, we found that the results of searches were not useful. MetaFind was also a stagnant list. It was not possible to add or change databases in the profile. The Reference department reviewed the databases that we thought would be most useful to the majority of students. These will be included in our implementation of Innovative's next version of federated searching, Research Pro. Library staff has control of Research Pro's "look and feel" with Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) technology, customizable forms, Web options, and tokens. Library staff can also easily identify which resources should be searched by default, giving them the flexibility to organize resources by subject. Initially databases available include those from Wilson Web, EBSCO, ProQuest, Article First, JSTOR, Project Muse, Science Direct, and Wiley Interscience. The Library plans to make Research Pro available at the end of the summer sessions in August 2007.
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Bonnie Strohl