An. Zincir-heywood et al., Heterogeneous digital library query platform using a truly distributed multi-agent search, INT J COOP, 9(3), 2000, pp. 229-254
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Information Tecnology & Communication Systems
Journal title
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COOPERATIVE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
A platform for performing multi-agent searches in heterogeneous digital lib
raries is proposed. This differs significantly from previous approaches by
completely removing the concept of a centralized search engine. Specificall
y, the organization of information held on domain index servers is constrai
ned to conform to a virtual tree representation based on facets and global
keyword concept schema particular to the set of information providers assoc
iated with the domain of interest (e.g. preparatory intranet). Simulation s
tudies are used to compare this platform against a digital library platform
presently in use, which employs the traditional central server scheme. Imp
rovements in terms of query service time and robustness are demonstrated.