The Cool Foxes: Online Documentation Project
If you could create a research tool what would it be?
The research tool we would create would be a federated search system that includes an add-on application, which attaches to a web browser. An add-on is an accessory device or piece of software designed to increase the capability of a computer or hi-fi system (citation here). In other words, it is a small portion of software that adds new features to your installed browser (Google Chrome, Explorer, Safari, Firefox, etc.)
What would the tool do?
This add-on tool would have the ability to search across multiple databases. The user could conduct keyword searches without the use of “+” [plus signs], or abbreviations such as “and” and “or”.
Who would the intended audience be?
The intended audience for this research tool would be college/university students looking for an alternate route to traditional database searching. Users “have stopped using resources because they are frustrated by the number of dissimilar search interfaces they must use to access database content (Warren, 262)”
How would it be different from the research tools we’ve worked with this semester?
In comparison to the CUNY CityTech library database system this search program would produce the same results in less time than the traditional route.
How would it make doing research easier, faster, or more enjoyable?
This add-on tool “will allow users to search a range of databases simultaneously” (Warren, 259). And “it will present results to the end user sorted by relevance, with duplicate records merged and independent of the sources they are drawn from” (Warren, 263). Users would be able to make searches across a wide range of databases that would be categorized by subject/category.
How would it help solve commonly encountered difficulties with research?
What would the tool look like?
[A two page model will be made and elaborated on.]
Could it be a mobile application?
Yes & No. A mobile application is meant to be a condensed version of a website, which runs on smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices that have internet capabilities. If there are too many features to work through then the application becomes instantly forgotten and/or deleted.
