7 - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

Figure .5 Search Results Screen
6.Suggestions
Based on the experiences at IGCAR, the following suggestions are made to enhance
features and functions of the federated search:
‣ Merged Ranking
‣ This allows consistent ranking schemes to be applied across all sources, so that the most
relevant hits always come out on top when results from different sources are merged.
‣ Result Filtering
‣ Unwanted results, such as those unacceptable content, outdated information, and so on,
can be filtered out of result lists with custom filtering modules. Similarly, duplicates can
be removed to reduce clutter in the result list. If desired, the ranking of results with
duplicates can be enhanced to reflect that more than one information source considered
them to be important.
‣ International Language Support
‣ Today, business is becoming increasingly international, requiring the ability to access
information in various languages. An interface that can display several views of search
results in multiple languages, along with the tools to connect to content sources from
around the world is needed.
‣ Enterprise Security
‣ Access to specific documents and any repository should be restricted. Internal
authentication models for repositories, proprietary applications, as well as third-party
access management software need to be provided. For external information sources,
support for source-specific credentials and cookies can be provided -ensuring only the
files a user is entitled to see are shown in result lists and category views.
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