To access the content, visitors to scitopia.org use a simple, intuitive interface developed by Deep Web Technologies. Most recently known for its work on science.gov, Deep Web Technologies has extensive experience in the development and refinement of federated searching, particularly in the development of scientific portals.
Users can search for full text articles using a fielded approach, for example, by article title or author name. Or, they can use it as a discovery tool, narrowed to gather specific publisher content or broadened to scan the complete databases of all the partners. Search results include the article's title, authors and source. Scitopia.org also allows researchers to mark and save (or e-mail) articles they want to examine at a later date.
When users find content they want in full text they’re directed to the publisher’s digital library for access. Researchers at institutions with subscriptions to the content are automatically authenticated and are able to click through to it. Members of partner societies may also be able to access full text, depending upon the association’s membership policies. Pay-per-view options allow users without any prior subscriptions to purchase as many articles as they choose. As a federated search, no new subscriptions are needed to use scitopia.org.
What’s in it for users?
Scitopia.org isn’t just another search portal. It searches only scholarly content from major science and technology societies, quickly connecting users to credible sources, without the distraction of the questionable content prevalent in free web search. However, because of its multidisciplinary approach – built through collaboration of its partner societies – scitopia.org enhances discovery and insight, keeping a key feature of web search. Further, scitopia.org searches don’t rely upon crawled content. Instead they scan each partner’s online library in real time, delivering results that include content that may have appeared on the web just moments before. In short, scitopia.org is the most direct route to this highly valued content, literally as soon as it’s been published.
Within the first month of release of scitopia.org beta in 2007, visitors were pouring into the web site and more than 120 science, technology and library blogs passed the word about its existence. Soon libraries around the world – including the U.S. Library of Congress, Stanford University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and libraries in Australia, Ireland and Italy – began including links to scitopia.org from their websites so patrons could use the service, even during its beta phase.
Content grew dramatically as scitopia.org attracted new partners. The 13 founding partners in the site were joined by eight other societies, increasing the subject depth, historical archive and breadth of expertise available. Additionally, new features – such as clustering – have allowed scitopia.org to evolve along with user needs and interest.
What’s next?
Scitopia.org has become well-established as a direct route to accurate, timely science and technology content among librarians around the world. However, its partners aren’t resting on their laurels: they’re continuing to pursue technological advancements that will improve the user experience. They’re just as aggressively seeking new content partners that will expand the site’s content geographically, with a special interest in Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more information, visit
here.
