dbWiz Federated Search Tool Demo to Staff Carol MacDonald April 4, 2007

dbWiz dbWiz is a federated search engine tool that allows users to select an appropriate starting point when doing research User doesn’t have to decide which database to pick if they don’t know where to start It gives users of library resources a quick means of choosing some research resources on a subject A search profile consisting of key databases on a subject can then be searched at a single point of access to get some hits on a topic It is similar to Proquest, CAS and other agregators but allows searching of databases from different vendors

dbWiz Allows General and Subject-based Searching Local and Native interfaces GODOT links to “Where can I get this” Direct link into Library catalogue by title

dbWiz Basic Search

Basic Searching Select the Basic Search tab for general searching to find something on a subject from the drop down menu Provides users a minimal interface and requires few decisions to begin to retrieve some search results on a topic User simply selects a search category and one or more keywords Subject profiles are based on U. of R. calendar –ex. History, Engineering, Geography, etc Best Bests profile has some interdisciplinary databases where novice users could start searching DSpace profile has two institutional repositories which can be searched

Advanced Search

Provides users with search fields to construct more complex search statements using keyword, author, title Allows users to select their own resources for searching either from a subject profile or by selecting specific databases they want to try searching as a group Subject profiles include databases most likely to give results on a specific subject Example: -select a subject profile such as History -enter keywords authors or titles -ex brennan regina

dbWiz Search Results Available citation details are provided along with a direct link to either the native interface or the GODOT link resolver using the “Where can I get this” function which we have been using for some time If Voyager is included in the subject profile of databases to search, select the title for dbWiz to link directly into the record Search profiles can be easily changed as new databases targets are made available in dbWiz or if you want different databases added then originally set up

dbWiz Search Time on Multiple Databases dbWiz makes every effort to search all the database targets in a profile, but will timeout and give the results from the databases it could connect to easily within 2-3 minutes, rather than making the user wait indefinitely Uses SiteSearch Z39.50 searching suite which may give different results than a search of the individual database itself, but if the user links directly into the native interface they can do additional searches there Order of search of databases is determined by the search profile and can be changed if reference staff have a preferred order Order of results can be sorted by database or date

Search History Box Displays the number of hits that were found for each database resource Displays errors in accessing a database All the user’s searches will display until they log out User can click on a specific database to see only the citations it has on a topic (usually only first 20 of the total found are displayed but user can select next set if more that 20 hits are shown for the database)

dbWiz Search Results

Link to Native Interface

Search Tips Use a single keyword search or combine multiple keywords, authors, titles or subjects Advanced search allows selection of boolean operators Use quotes around phrases (ex. “climate change”) Once you have done a search you can use the advanced search to refine it or add other databases from the list Based on the results determine which databases are useful to link into to search further When you click on the underlined title of an item it will take you to the specific item in the database the item was found in Or click on the database name to link into the database to see the results and pick from there Use the back button to return to the complete list of results

Possible Uses of dbWiz Subject-specific links could be placed on web-based subject guides, database listings, faculty web pages, etc. Course-specific searches could also be developed and put on WebCT or liaison librarian instruction web pages HTML code for each subject can be cut and pasted into web pages, WebCT, even a Wiki which allows user feedback

Examples of dbWiz

Examples - dbWiz on web page

Examples – dbWiz on web page

Examples - Quick Search Embedded on Subject Guide Page at SFU

Examples - dbWiz Renamed

dbWiz Error Messages Failed to get results (-1): occurs when search fails to retrieve result set from the Z3950 server Failed to connect (-2): occurs when search fails to connect to the Z3950 server Parasearch error (-3): occurs when search fails to retrieve a result set and is caught by the parasearch perl program Too many hits (-4): occurs when there are too many hits returned Timed Out (-5): occurs when search times out Bad Search String (-6): occurs when there is a problem in parsing of the search string (ie bad format – ex. John AND AND OR canada) Not Authorized (-7): occurs when search fails to connect to the site due to authentication failure Wrong module being used (-8): occurs when a wrong module is being used for the resource Ezproxy_prefix not set (-9): occurs when ezproxy_prefix is needed but it is not set

Need Your Input What should we call it? Federated Search Find an article Multi-Search Multiple Databases Search Library Search Engine Cross Database Search Something else?? Is it a research tool we could promote to new users? What web pages should it be on? Should Voyager catalogue be in each subject profile? What other subject profiles should be added? When should we roll it out and how?

Further Information dbWiz targets. is a list of databases that dbWiz has been configured to work with; list grows as SFU staff continue to add new resources. Federated Search background articles: Roy Tennant. Digital libraries cross-database search: one-stop shopping. Library Journal, October 15, Mah, Calvin & Kevin Stranack. dbWiz: Open source federated searching for academic libraries.