Looking into the future of metasearch..

“Show me someone who doesn’t dream about the future and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t know where they are going.”

That’s a pretty well known saying about the future and one that is appropriate to a recently announced contest on predicting the future of metasearch, sponsored by the Federated Search Blog.

While most people live in the “today” and think of small enhancements that would make their life and their user’s, use and work-flows easier with today’s products, there are those who dream of the future and what might be possible. This contest is for them (and there’s even some money to be won). It’s a chance to write up their dreams and share them with a much larger audience. The entries will also be judged by a panel of people working in the metasearch /federated search field, including yours truly.

The possibilities are wide open, the vision limited only by imagination. Clearly the writers will need to think about things like:

… Social networks and how to harness that resource

… Cloud and grid computing

… Visualization and vocalization

… Content granularity and recomposition in new forms

… Roles of librarians in federated/metasearching?

… Who will be providing the products/services?

… Where will the metasearch software live?

… Who will the providers be?

The list goes on. But at the end, hopefully we’ll begin to have a better defined view of the future.

As my son grew, up we lived in the middle of the country, and he developed a fondness for the west coast and a desire to live there. I frequently said to him, “you can head out the door and head west and you’ll likely eventually get there. However, if you first get a map and plot your course, you’ll get there sooner and with a lot more accuracy.” This is a chance to help put together that map and plot that course. Let us hear from you. Details are here.