OpenSearch is a standard way of querying a database for content and returning the results.
The official docs note simply: “Any website that has a search feature can make their results available in OpenSearch format,” then adds: “Publishing your search results in OpenSearch™ format will draw more people to your content, by exposing it to a [...]

Posted July 19, 2006 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information. Tags: a9, api, lib20, libraries, library, library 2.0, opensearch, search, search aggregator, search api. 2 Comments.

I prefaced my point about how the standards we choose in libraries isolate us from the larger stream of progress driving development outside libraries with the note that I was sure to get hanged for it.
It’s true.
I commented that there were over 140,00 registered Amazon API developers and 365 public OpenSearch targets (hey look, there’s [...]

Posted February 23, 2006 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Politics & Controversy. Tags: a9, amazon api, amazon web services, argument, AWS, cage match, code4lib, code4lib 2006, future libraries, information retrieval, lib20, libraries, library, library 2.0, library standards, opensearch, search, search and retrieval, search retrieval, sru/srw, srw/sru, web services. 6 Comments.

I just received this email from the A9 OpenSearch team:
We have just released OpenSearch 1.1 Draft 2. We hope to declare it the final version shortly, and it is already supported by A9.com. Uprading from a previous version should only take a few minutes…
OpenSearch 1.1 allows you to specify search results in HTML, Atom, or [...]

Posted December 13, 2005 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Technology. Tags: a9, a9.com, aggregated search, amazon, federated search, libraries, library, library catalog, library catalogs, metasearch, opac, open search, opensearch, search. 4 Comments.

A9, the search engine from Amazon.com, does some pretty interesting things that libraries should be aware of. First, any library considering a metasearch product should look at what can be done for free, and second, libraries should take a look at the OpenSearch technology that drives it.
So now, when searching for Harry Potter, you’ll also [...]

Posted October 21, 2005 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information. Tags: a9, lamson library, metasearch, michigan state university, opensearch, plymouth state university, ryan eby, search engine, search engines, search technology, seattle public library, university, web search, websearch, xslt. Be the first one.

I’ve been looking seriously at metasearch/federated search products for libraries recently. After a lot of reading and a few demos I’ve got some complaints.
I’m surprised how vendors, even now, devote so much time demonstrating patron features that are neither used nor appreciated by any patrons without an MLS. Recent lessons (one, two, three) should have [...]

Posted July 10, 2005 by Casey Bisson
Categories: Libraries & Networked Information, Technology. Tags: a9, clusty, federated search, google, libraries, library, library systems, metasearch, natural language search, opac, patron, patrons, search technology, teoma, yahoo. 8 Comments.