CFM: Special Issue of Internet Reference Services Quarterly on Federated Searching
Internet Reference Services Quarterly, a refereed journal published by The Haworth Press Inc., invites proposals for a special issue on federated searching. The issue (12 1/2) will tentatively be published in February 2007.
We hope the issue, which may also be published as a monograph, will cover a wide range of topics pertaining to federated searching or metasearching. For the purposes of this issue, federated searching is defined at a search system with a common interface which enables simultaneous searching of databases or other resources from a variety of vendors. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
- Implementations of the various software packages (MetaLib, ENCompass, WebFeat, etc.) at different sized campus or as part of consortia
- Issues related to implementation or use of the software
- Interface decisions
- Comparison to and competition with Google Scholar
- Metasearch standards
- Technical services issues (i.e. metadata, etc.) relating to federated searching
- Information literacy issues related to federated searching
- Instruction of federated searching to various groups
- Utilization of federated searching at the Reference Desk
- Usability studies
- Assessment of federated searching technologies
- Studies of how widespread the phenomenon is, etc.