Michael Bieber, associate professor of information systems,NewJersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), is leading a group of information scientists and librarians in a project that provides a new way to think about integrating objects in the digital library—from search results in an EBSCO database to a library catalog to photographs in a digital archive. A student searches a ProQuest database and has found a pertinent article.That article would contain a variety of "anchors," or icons, links related to the author or keywords. Clicking on the icons would lead to content in the book catalog or in other databases; a video in a digital repository; notes a local professor has added to the article; or the authors web page. It might even link to services like MapQuest or an "Ask the Expert" page. It's simple: users don't have to think about what they're doing. And unlike federated searching, Bieber claims, the native power of each interface will still be maintained.
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