Research: Demonstrators: ROADS Distributed Search Demo

DESIRE / ROADS Search Demo

• Try the ROADS search demo
  (choosing from the various search services known to the DESIRE ROADS server)

This demonstration, like the DESIRE/CHIC demo, illustrates several features of the research into distributed search services undertaken by DESIRE. The ROADS open-source software toolkit is maintained externally to the DESIRE project but is used heavily by many of the services and researchers affiliated with DESIRE.

Other DESIRE activities are also contributing to ROADS, or building additional toolkit components which interwork with ROADS components to provide freely available software to support distributed searching. The DESIRE project will contribute software into the ROADS codebase wherever possible. This has initially involved some work on polishing and bundling the TF-CHIC software tools so that they are become standard component of ROADS.

The DESIRE Subject Gateways activity, including workshops and the Information Gateways Handbook, does not assume that all gateways will use ROADS to manage their data. The DutchESS service in the Netherlands, for example, only uses ROADS for interoperability with other services: records are batch converted into ROADS records on a regular basis to allow DutchESS to particupate in distributed search services such as those sketched here.

What is this?

The ROADS 'cross search' interface allows for simultaneous searching of one or more Internet gateways or other searchable databases.These include SOSIG, Biz/ed, the DutchESS catalogue. The ROADS software used to present this search interface allows for parallel searches of other gateways participating in an international mesh of servers. The DutchESS service is managed at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Participating servers collect "forward knowledge" about other Internet gateways else so that users can find resources described elsewhere on the network.

Phase two of the DESIRE project is investigating the technical, standards and user-interface issues which need to be addressed before such a federated search network can be made available to end-users in a production services environment.

Relationship to DESIRE

The ROADS software distribution is maintained outside the DESIRE project; DESIRE is working to provide tools to contribute to, or work with, the ROADS free software toolkit.

The ROADS search form will send a query to DESIRE's search client which will in turn consult its registry of search services to find connection details for various searchable databases. The search result screen gives a graphical indication of the source database in which each matching record was found.

Note: By its nature, this demo depends upon various networked services beyond our control. If the search facility is unavailable, please try again later.