Searching

There is an art to creating a successful search strategy. In the 'olden' days when only print resources were available, one went to the largest library collection one could access. Large libraries were usually in a big city or connected with a university level academic institution. Once inside the building, one sought the skills and knowledge of the Reference Librarian to guide you to those resources that would best answer the question at hand. What do you do now?

Do you go to Google and type in the word or phrase? Do you trust that Googles' search algorithm will pull up just what you're looking for?

Several TCSG librarians attended a GALILEO webinar on the way federated search works in GALILEO. It was a fascinating history of buyouts and change among the vendors who provide federated search software. The bottom line was- no federated search program will be perfect. The programs look inside individual databases and pull information. The difficulty is coordinating with how each database searches for information inside themselves?

It's not like going to an apple orchard and picking apples. There are pumpkin vines, blueberry bushes, potato vines and pecan trees mixed in this information orchard. Each one requires a different way of plucking the produce. Google skims the surface of public information while the federated search goes into private orchards where each vendor has arranged the information in a special way!

It begins to explain why the new federated search at GALILEO isn't bringing up results in the way one might expect.

The vendor will keep tweaking the system! Remember that your librarian can help you find information.



-kss