Key Facts:
+ Scitopia set to launch at SLA in June but look for a test version in May.
+ 13 Sci-Tech Societies are involved. Over 3 million articles will be available.
Participating Organizations
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
American Physical Society (APS)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
The Electrochemical Society (ECS)
IEEE
Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP)
Optical Society of America (OSA)
SPIE
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
+ A single search will provide simultaneous searches of 13 databases. The federated search technology will be provided by Deep Web Technologies, the technology that also powers Science.gov.Hopefully, Scitopia will use the same setup as Science.gov and merge all results (independent of source) into a single list of results. ResourceShelf has noted that often (for the typical searcher) they care less about which database (if it matters to them in the first place) and more about the actual content. Making end users view results one database at a time can often be a waste of effort for many searchers. Of course, if requested, post processing OR an advanced search interface should allow searchers to sort in various ways including by source. Also, will any technology be available to assist a user in selecting the most useful databases for a specific search if they want to run an advanced search from the get-go?
BQ also mentions other services like Google Scholar, Elsevier's Scirus, Windows Live Academic, and the currently in development Science.World (1 ||| 2). ResourceShelf hopes that unlike Google Scholar and Windows Live Academic, Scitopia will provide both end users and info pros a regularly updated list of what sources are in the database, publication dates, etc. These are features not available on GS or WLA*.
Random Notes
+ Some material from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) is also available in Scirus and AIP's own Scitation database with content from 20 publishers as well as Pubmed/Medline content.
From the article:
Barbara Lange, director of product line management and publishing business development at IEEE, and Tim Ingoldsby, director of strategic initiatives and business development at the AIP, both pointed out that Google Scholar has a spidering schedule that could leave current articles stuck in a multiweek pipeline. Scitopia.org will offer real-time updating. Ingoldsby stated, "We publish articles now every minute of the day and night, and the moment after we publish, our [Scitopia.org] search will find them. We are a much better choice for that reason."
BQ's article goes on to point out that once content is accessed via Scitopia, a link back to the publisher will allow for pay-per-view options or authentication using a number of methods. Funding (who's going to pay for it)? The societies themselves. However, Quint reports that context-based advertising will be considered.
Much More in BQ's article including an interesting section on how in they plan to handle public domain material.
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