Customized Search for Intergovernmental Organizations

The people at Indiana University Libraries in Bloomington, Indiana have developed customized search tools for IGOs - intergovernmental organizations like the World Bank, the European Union and the UN.

One tool, based on Google technology, searches in 355 "core IGO URLs". The other search tool, based on a technology called Swiki, rummages through 100 core URLs.

As this Resourceshelf post from late October explains, there are more and more tools out there to allow users and librarians to create customized search applications.

Also see the following articles from SearchEngineWatch:

• Your Search, Your Way (September 19, 2006): "A new generation of search services goes beyond simple personalization, and lets you customize both your search topics and how results are presented... a number of new services are providing ability to create your own search engine, and to search your way. Not literally of course ... but if you have a few minutes to spare you can do the next best thing, which is to piggyback on the work of others and create a search resource that works the way that you want it to. "
• Your Search, Your Way, Part Two (September 20, 2006): "Today, we continue our look at personalized search services, focusing in depth on offerings from Yahoo and Eurekster."
• Google Launches Custom Search Engine Service (October 24, 2006): "Want your own Google-flavored specialized search engine for your web site or blog? With Google's new Custom Search Engine service, it takes just minutes to set up your own unique search engine.Google is joining Yahoo, Eurekster and many others in offering a customized search platform that makes it easy for anyone to offer a highly tailored search engine."