Information Management Best Practices: The Future of Federated Search
Federated search goes beyond searching the open web a la Google to include subscription-based content in a variety of databases. This report examines what federated search is and how it has evolved, and makes recommendations for information managers who want to offer their users more valuable search tools. It provides:
- A definition of federated search and its relationship with enterprise search;
- Examples of 12 companies providing federated search and the products they offer;
- Data on the time knowledge workers spend using external information;
- Analysis of the advantages of federated search, and why federated search players do not view Google as a threat;
- Imperatives for information managers who want to demonstrate value by leading federated search initiatives in the enterprise.
Pub Date: August 16, 2007
Pages: 17
Format: PDF 
Table of Contents
- Why This Topic?
- What Is Federated Search?
- Users
- Pricing and Players
- The Importance of Integrated Access to Internal and External Content
- Federated Search Players Not Threatened by Google
- Google Not Viewed as a Threat
- The Advantages of Federated Search
- Analysis of Content
- Conclusions – Why Federated Search Is Not Likely to Vanish
- Imperatives for Information Managers
- Figure 1. Federated Search and Its Relationship with Enterprise Search
- Figure 2. Elsevier’s Engineering Village User Interface
- Table 1. Companies Providing Federated Search
- Table 2. Hours Spent Using External Information
- Figure 3. Surface Web: Tip of the Iceberg
- Figure 4. Users’ Time Spent Gathering and Analyzing Information
- Table 3. Use or Planned Use of an Enterprise Integrated Search Engine
Tables & Figures