Polaris PowerPAC and MuseGlobal Federated Search - Overview

Polaris PowerPAC provides federated searching, which enables users to simultaneously search multiple diverse and distributed target resources and retrieve merged search results. Polaris provides federated searching of Z39.50 databases at no additional cost. Or, libraries can purchase a subscription for the MuseGlobal service, which provides access to external databases that use many different kinds of search protocols (Z39.50 and many others). While MuseGlobal provides search access, connectors and URLs that conform to OpenURL, all searching is conducted using the PowerPAC search interface.

Note:
Although staff members can search multiple databases in the Polaris staff client, the results are not merged. If a link resolver is required, the library must purchase it from a third party.

See also:

• Set up the MuseGlobal Service
• Set up MuseGlobal and Federated Search in Polaris
• Import databases to the MuseGlobal search server

Search Protocols

Federated searching in Polaris, combined with the MuseGlobal service, can use the following types of search protocols:

Tip:
Since the Polaris PowerPAC can search remote Z39.50 database targets without MuseGlobal, your library may decide to use MuseGlobal only when the source cannot be searched using Z39.50.

• Z39.50 (v1, v2, v3) - Search hosts that support all three versions of the Z39.50 protocol.
• HTTP - Search the major web search engines.
• Free text searches - Use common free text search engines through their native API (Application Program Interface).
• SQL or ODBC databases (with known characteristics) - Search databases using these two protocols where enough is known about the database to correctly structure the search statement.
• Proprietary protocol - These sources (library catalogs, publishers databases, etc.) have a rich store of information, but do not have standard search interfaces. This requires a specific protocol translator for each piece of software.
• XML gateway (SOAP, REST)
• SQL
• SRU / SRW

Search Targets and Search Results

With federated searching in Polaris using the MuseGlobal service, the following types of targets can typically be searched (providing the MuseGlobal service has established a connector for the database):

• Library catalogs (MARC)
• Supplementary and locally-created non-MARC databases such as archives records, community resources, newspaper indexes, and metadata imports from vendors such as EBSCO    
• Non-MARC sources that are internal to the library
• Commercial full text research databases (API support)
• Electronic journals
• Abstract/indexing databases
• News feeds
• Websites
• Subscription databases
• Digital content including images (photos, maps), multimedia, full-text, and metadata
• Consortia member websites
• Unstructured data, such as: theses, white papers, and reports

When search results are returned from the remote federated databases, duplicate detection is not performed. The results are sorted by relevancy, and PowerPAC users can select facets to narrow the search.