Overview of content related to 'search technology'

Editorial Introduction to Issue 40: Horses for Courses

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Richard Waller introduces Ariadne issue 40.

Reading the interesting points Karen Coyle has to make in Rights Management and Digital Library Requirements puts me in mind, not so much of horses actually, as of one of cartoonist Gary Larson's cows. The bovine unfortunate in question, bedecked with shower cap, is being pushed along by the rest of the herd and complaining that no sooner has she stepped into the shower than some fool cries 'Stampede!' Much the same effect may be claimed from the fallout of the Napster affair and the sharing of millions of music files.

Towards Library Groupware With Personalised Link Routing

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Daniel Chudnov, Jeremy Frumkin, Jennifer Weintraub, Matthew Wilcox and Raymond Yee describe a potential groupware framework for integrating access to diverse information resources and distributed personal collection development.

'Library groupware' - a set of networked tools supporting information management for individuals and for distributed groups - is a new class of service we may choose to provide in our libraries. In its simplest form, library groupware would help people manage information as they move through the diversity of online resources and online communities that make up today's information landscape. Complex implementations might integrate equally well with enterprise-wide systems such as courseware and portals on a university campus, and desktop file storage on private individual computers.

An Introduction to the Search/Retrieve URL Service (SRU)

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Eric Lease Morgan describes sibling Web Service protocols designed to define a standard form for Internet search queries as well as the structure of the responses.

This article is an introduction to the "brother and sister" Web Service protocols named Search/Retrieve Web Service (SRW) and Search/Retrieve URL Service (SRU) with an emphasis on the later. More specifically, the article outlines the problems SRW/U are intended to solve, the similarities and differences between SRW and SRU, the complimentary nature of the protocols with OAI-PMH, and how SRU is being employed in a sponsored NSF (National Science Foundation) grant called OCKHAM to facilitate an alerting service.

Tap Into Bath

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Alison Baud and Ann Chapman describe the development of a database of archive, library and museum collections in Bath.

Since 1999, when it was first proposed to use metadata for collection-level description within the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) [1], there has been steadily growing interest in this new method of supporting resource discovery. A number of collection-level description databases have now been created in the UK, funded through national initiatives. However, little documentation is available on how these were designed and created.

Cornucopia: An Open Collection Description Service

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Chris Turner describes the latest phase of Cornucopia development and the opportunities this is opening up for the future.

A Little History

Cornucopia is a searchable database of collections held by cultural heritage institutions throughout the UK. It is developed and managed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and was initially established in response to the Government's Treasures in Trust report which called for a way to be found of recognising the richness and diversity of our collections.

The Information Environment Service Registry: Promoting the Use of Electronic Resources

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Amanda Hill outlines progress on the Information Environment Service Registry Project and explains what it will mean for service providers and portal developers.

The last ten years have seen a huge investment in the creation of electronic resources for use by researchers, students and teachers. Increasing amounts of money are being spent now on providing portals and virtual learning environments (or learning management systems) for use within institutions and organisations, or for people focusing on particular subject areas. A portal is defined by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) as -

Targeting Academic Research With Southampton's Institutional Repository

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Jessie Hey describes how user needs have influenced the evolutionary development of 'e-Prints Soton' as the University of Southampton Research Repository.

The University of Southampton has been one of the pioneers of open access to academic research, particularly, in the tireless advocacy of Professor Stevan Harnad and in the creation of the EPrints software [1], as a vehicle for creating open access archives (or repositories) for research. These activities have been supported by a long-standing programme of research into digital libraries, hypermedia, and scholarly communication.

Public Libraries: Weblogs: Do They Belong in Libraries?

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Penny Garrod takes a look at weblogs and weblogging activities in libraries and considers some of the ways they can be used to support public library users.

Weblogs in Education

Weblogs and weblogging, blogs and blogging - many terms are used to describe this increasingly popular Web-based activity, but is a library Web site the right place to host a weblog? Are weblogs simply another trendy tool for those with time to spare and something to say? Consider this from the BBC news Web site:

EEVL News: What EEVL Users Really Want

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Roddy MacLeod looks at the results of the recent questionnaire which surveyed opinions about the EEVL service.

What do the users of EEVL [1], the Internet guide to engineering, mathematics and computing, really want from the service? Do they want EEVL to develop more portal services? Do they want more expansion of EEVL's catalogue of Internet resources? Do they want other things? The only way to find out what users of an information service really want is to ask them. This is what EEVL did earlier this year through a Web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire is now closed, but an archive version is available [2].

News from BIOME

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Jenny Hall reports on recent news form BIOME, the Health and Life Sciences hub of the Resource Discovery Network.

BIOME Database Continues to Increase

The BIOME database [1] now contains over 25,000 resources and continues to grow. To see the weekly additions go to BIOME what's new [2].

Search Engines: A Mixed Bag - A Review of Some New Search Engines

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Phil Bradley takes a look at some new search engines to see if they are up to challenging the top dogs.

People are of course aware that Google isn't the only search engine out there, by any manner or means, and although many people regard it as the biggest and the best, this certainly isn't the case for those organisations who decide that they want a share of the search engine market. This month I'm going to look at some of the new search engines that have appeared, and will see how many of them make the grade.

WebWatch: Testing Web Page Design Concepts for Usability

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Dey Alexander and Derek Brown demonstrate how the layout of a Web page has a direct influence upon users' capacity and willingness to engage with a Web site.

In order to identify the extent to which visual designs assist users to locate particular elements that might be contained on a Web page (such as search, site-wide navigation, and local navigation), we used a usability testing method described by Tullis [1] to test a set of five Web page design concepts. All text elements on each of the designs were "greeked", or turned into nonsense text. This meant that users had to rely on the communicative aspects of each design in order to perform their tasks.

PALS Conference: Institutional Repositories and Their Impact on Publishing

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Kurt Paulus describes for us the Publisher and Library/Learning Solutions (PALS) Conference held in London this June.

PALS [1] is the ongoing collaboration between UK publishers (ALPSP [2] and the Publishers Association [3]), and Higher/Further Education (JISC). PALS aims to foster mutual understanding and work collaboratively towards the solution of issues arising from electronic publication.

World Wide Web Conference 2004

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Dave Beckett reports on the international WWW2004 conference held in New York, 19-21 May 2004.

WWW2004 [1] was the 13th conference in the series of international World Wide Web conferences organised by the IW3C2 (International World Wide Web Conference Committee). This was the annual gathering of Web researchers and technologists to present the latest work on the Web and Web standardisation at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The Future of Cataloguing: Cataloguing and Indexing Group Conference

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Paola Stillone reports on a three-day annual conference of the CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group (CIG), held at the University of Bath, 30 June - 2 July.

The conference was aimed at information professionals interested in looking at issues that are changing cataloguing and indexing. The latest international developments in metadata standards, cataloguing codes, taxonomies and controlled languages unlock new opportunities for cataloguers' involvement. They also raise complex interoperability issues which go beyond traditional cataloguing and highlight the need for the acquisition of new skills in the digital information environment.

Adding Value to the National Information Infrastructure: The EDINA Exchange Day, Edinburgh

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

John MacColl provides us with a report of EDINA's first general information event for the HE and FE communities held at the National E-Science Centre.

EDINA [1] held its first general information event for the Higher and Further Education communities on Tuesday 11 May 2004. EDINA Exchange took place in the National E-Science Centre at the University of Edinburgh.

News and Events

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Ariadne presents a brief summary of news and events.

Seminar Invitation from DEF - Danish Electronic Research Library

The DEF XML Web Services project invites you to participate in the seminar: Building Digital Libraries with XML Web Services on Friday 27 August 2004 from 9:30 to 16:00 at the Technical University of Denmark, Building 303, DK-2800 Lyngby.

The headlines of the seminar are:

Book Review: Net Effects

editor — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 23:00:00 +0000

Grant Young reviews a compilation of articles showcasing librarians' efforts to wrest control of new technologies and reassert some traditional values.

Marylaine Block will be well-known to many readers of Ariadne - perhaps chiefly for her 'Neat New Stuff' and ExLibris bulletins. As its name suggests, 'Neat New Stuff' is a weekly compilation of noteworthy sites Block has discovered in her Web crawling. Her other weekly online publication, ExLibris, is an 'e-zine' containing interesting and provocative articles, reviews and tidbits of information from Block and others.