Managing the implementation of a federated search tool in an academic library

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at some of the broader design and management issues that occur during the implementation of a federated search tool in a modern academic library, and tries to tease out some of the background concepts that librarians should consider.Design/methodology/approachAn overview of the main advantages and disadvantages of federated search tools in comparison with existing library tools and internet search engines such as Google.FindingsA successful implementation of a federated search engine was found to depend on a radical approach which subordinates other existing library search tools to the new one‐stop search engine. This new search interface must in turn be designed for simplicity, and not to mimic existing, overly complex library information retrieval devices.Research limitations/implicationsThe emphasis is on the softer, general aspects of managing search tool implementation, rather than the hard, technical side. So, this paper may be best read in tandem with a specific description of a search tool implementation, which describes some of the technical “back office” aspects of federated search. Research developments in these technical areas may well soon lead to the elimination of some of the negative aspects which this paper presents to the non‐technical library manager simply as a “given”.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines many of the practical challenges in search tool implementation which librarians might otherwise not anticipate.Originality/valueThe approach in this investigation is to present the broader implications of search tool implementation in a way that is stripped of technical complexity, in order to show the larger management issues as clearly as possible.