Week 8 Readings---Retrieving Information.

This week I am commenting on Todd Miller's Federated Searching: Put It in Its Place, Webfest's The Truth About Federated Searching and Norbert Lossau's “Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries: Libraries Need to Discover the Academic Internet”.

Federated Searching: Put It in Its Place
"Knowledge is power. This is true not only for the library patron but for the library as well. The more that libraries enable and fully engage their information, the more central they become in the lives of their constituency."

~As someone who sees myself more from a library user's perspective, I found myself agreeing tremendously with Todd Miller. I think he makes several good points, i.e. the need for a relationship between the library catalog and federated searching, the tendency for users to want to find answers and not particularly enjoying the search process, how maybe the model Google uses is not that bad of an idea. I found Todd Miller's article to concisely bring up good points and clearly state his opinion.
I also liked that he brings up the point that although something may be the best for the users, doesn't necessarily mean the users will use it and if the users do not use, well, it useless, right? When it comes to libraries and providing access to users, I think that this should always be taken into consideration, not only what is best for the user but what will be used best by users. We need to not only bring the information to the user but also bring the user to the information, in a way that is easy for them to understand and follow themselves.

The Truth about Federated Searching
On the flip side, this article is a compilation of the top five misconceptions about federated searching. Basically, the want those interested in federated searching that: "not all federated search engines can search all databases", that de-duplication is not possible, that a relevant relevancy ranking is impossible, that it better to use federated searching as a service, not a software and that you cannot receive better result using a federated search engine then a native database search.
I thought this article brought up valid points for an argument against using federated searching in database searching. However, I do not know if I agree but I don't know if I actually know enough to agree or disagree. Honestly, I don't understand why authentication is such a problem, why is it so difficult to manage for subscription databases? Everything I have heard about database subscriptions throughout library school has left be baffled. From the sound of things ( and I fully admit here, I could and probably completely wrong) database and e-journal subscriptions kinda suck, or at least, the vendors kinda suck. Why don't they provide better service? Also, can't something be created that actually enhances the search functions of a native database search through a federated search? Is it impossible, or technologically are we not there yet?

Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries
This article brought up several good points about the need for the library community to provide quality search services to its users and the challenges libraries face. Personally, I agreed mostly with the fact brought up in the article that libraries need to view themselves more as an information gateway then just a depository of books. However, I do think that there is a push for this currently happening in academic libraries. I also thought this article brought up a great point when it mentioned that "future search services should be based on a collaboratively constructed, major shared data resource, but must come with a whole range of customizable search and browsing interfaces that can be seamlessly integrated into any local information portal, subject specific gateway or personal research and learning environment".
Overall, this article provide clear advocacy for reliable and easy search services as well as providing plenty of information about what exactly the needs are as well as what libraries can do about them.