Library Portals, Simultaneous Search, and Full-Text Linking Technologies

Abstract

SUMMARY Libraries are engaged in the development of customized portals or information gateways designed to reduce information overload and provide enhanced access to distributed information resources. Among the concerns that are being addressed in the next generation of library portals are: (1) providing enhanced navigation and linking through the rapidly growing number of electronic resources, in particular full-text resources; and (2) providing the capability of searching multiple information resources-such as periodical index databases, the library online catalog, and Web search engines-from a single user interface form. The technologies that will provide linking between discrete full-text resources and from periodical index databases and online catalogs to full-text will become increasingly important. These linking technologies are being built around information standards such as the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and the CrossRef publishers' initiative. Libraries are also building e-resource registry databases that identify and provide links to available licensed electronic full-text resources. This paper will describe the role of portal services and examine the technologies involved in full-text linking. The paper will also describe a portal application that was developed at the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham-paign (UIUC), which features simultaneous search and dynamic linking capabilities over multiple information resources. This simultaneous search service provides a model for synchronous searching of information resources and offers full-text linking capabilities built around a custom UIUC e-resource database, the CrossRef metadata database, and the article DOI.