KU-DLI Search Engine / Tool Working Group

Established by:      Vice Chancellor for Information Services & Chair, Digital Library Executive Group (Marilu Goodyear)

Members:                Tammy Albin (Library, Reference, Edwards Campus)                               
                                Jeff Long (ACS)
                                Cindy Pierard (Library, Instruction)
                                Mary Roach (Library, Cataloging)
                                Loretta Spurling (Library, Reference / Data Alliance)
                                Beth Warner (Director, Digital Library Initiatives), chair

Ex-Officio:               Julie Loats, Webmaster, ACS
                               John Miller, Library

Effective Dates:       October 1 – December 14, 2001

Background:

A major aspect of the development of the KU Digital Library is refining and implementing the basic infrastructure, i.e. the architecture, standards, guidelines, services, and staffing.  The development of digital resources is facilitated by the availability of appropriate tools and services that fit within the overall architectural framework, meet the approved standards, and provide easily accessed resources and services to the user community.

Charge:

The KU-DLI Search Engine Working Group is charged with developing specific functional criteria and recommendations for acquisition of a general-level resource discovery search engine / tool for accessing KU information resources.  Building on the recommendations of the Portal and Metadata WGs, the Search Engine WG will:

• Develop criteria for a search engine / tool to facilitate digital content access that
• allows simultaneous / cross-database searching of various categories of content including, but not limited to, remotely accessed content, locally maintained commercial content, local Library/DLI-created content, other locally created content
• accommodates tiers or sub-groups of access to content resources (i.e. by subject or type)
• integrates existing resources and management systems, as appropriate
• provides customization mechanisms for groups or individual users
• Recommendations should incorporate the following considerations:
• the product will integrate with a platform-independent web interface
• authentication/authorization support will be provided

The Working Group should consult with other campus resources as appropriate to inform their work. The Working Group will present their criteria, recommendations, and implementation plans to the DLEG by December 14, 2001.  The implementation plans should present information on specific product recommendations and the relevant specifications and resource needs (staff, software, equipment, and budget). 

Suggested Background Resources:

•          KU Digital Library Technical Infrastructure Task Force Report, Working Document, ver. 1.0, November 10, 2000 (http://kudiglib.ku.edu/docs/docs.htm#reports)

•          KU Portal Design Working Group Report, (final report due October 2001), (http://kudiglib.ku.edu/docs/docs.htm#reports)

•          KU Metadata Working Group Report, September, 2001, (http://kudiglib.ku.edu/docs/docs.htm#reports)

•          Berkman, Robert, Searching for the Right Search Engine, The Chronicle, January 21, 2000,  (http://chronicle.com/weekly/v46/i20/20b00601.htm)

•          Review: Search Engines, PC Magazine, November 15, 2000, (http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2652815,00.html)

•          Paratext, WebFeat (http://www.paratext.com/webfeat.htm)

•          Intelliseek, Enterprise Search Server (http://www.intelliseek.com/prod/ess.htm)