Federated search: closing in on the speed gap

Federated search: closing in on the speed gap Federated Search Blog.

[ Editor’s note: This article first appeared in theOSTI Blog. Dr. Walt Warnick, Director of the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, part of DOE, and I co-authored the article. This is a visionary piece. It addresses the question of what it would take for federated search to get to “Google speed.” You may agree with our conclusion. Or, you may not. In either case, we hope you enjoy the ride! ]

Many casual users of federated search criticize the technology for being slow to retrieve results. Serious researchers recognize the unique ability of federated search engines to mine the deep Web for quality science information that Google cannot find. These users recognize that there isno practical alternative to federated search for the best information. Still, everyone wants everything faster, and those users who are willing to trade quality for quickness focus on how federated search doesn’t return results in “Google time.”

OSTI begins to address the speed issue by displaying some results as soon as they are available. However, this approach causes results to be delivered in two sequential sets, which many users find less than ideal.

The good news for federated search users is that speed is not an insurmountable issue because technology is closing in on the speed gap.

Continues @ http://federatedsearchblog.com