Neuer Such-Service: Wondir

[Sebastian Wolf <wolf _at__ ub.uni-bielefeld.de>]

Liebe Inetbibler,

gestern gab es im "SearchDay"-Newsletter einen interessantes Hinweis auf
einen neuen in der Planung befindlichen Suchservice. 
"Wondir" (http://wondir.org/) soll eine Mischung aus Metasuchmaschine,
direkten Ansprechpartner ("Virtual Librararians") und dem "Invisible
Web" (unsichtbares Web, z.B. Inhalte aus Datenbanken) sein. Die vielen
im Internet vorhandenen "Ask A Librarian"-Services sollen unter einer
Oberfläche zugänglich sein. 
Dieser Service soll frei und kostenlos für alle sein. Wondir ist zwar
eher auf den englischsprachigen Raum beschränkt, aber sicher ist es
interessant, die Entwicklung weiter zu verfolgen.

Ich leite Ihnen den kompletten Artikel aus dem "Search-Day"-Newsletter
unten weiter.
Artikel Online:
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/02/sd0606-wondir.html

<zitat>
Meta Search + Invisible Web + Virtual Librarians = Wondir!

A team of respected search industry veterans is building a new and
different kind of information service that seeks to unify cutting edge
technology with the web's original egalitarian vision of people freely
helping people.

The Wondir Foundation's ambitious goal is to offer a unique combination
of
broad metasearch, deep search of the invisible web, and live human
answers.  Also unique is Wondir's organization as a non-profit
foundation,
designed to avoid the commercial pressures faced by for-profit search
engines and directories.

The project is spearheaded by Matt Koll, the founder and CEO of Personal
Library Software, which was acquired by America Online in 1998 to
bolster
its internal search capabilities.  Koll is also acknowledged as the
first
to write and speak about the Invisible Web, the vast portion of
cyberspace
that is unindexed by most search engines.

Other key players in the project include Laura Horn, former Vice
President
of Systems Development for America Online, and Brian Pinkerton, creator
of
WebCrawler, one of the very first web search engines.

Combining meta search of the open web with deep search of the Invisible
web is ambitious enough in itself.  Wondir is going beyond that,
attempting to organize the hundreds of online "AskA" virtual reference
services provided by libraries around the world under a single umbrella,
to provide human assistance when search fails to satisfy a user's
information need.

"We're aiming to fill a void that's not there," said Koll.  "Expert
services don't really address the universality of trying to integrate
all
these different kinds of sources into the answer."

In addition to organizing library AskA services, Wondir also hopes to
tap
into the expertise of other volunteer online help programs, including
government or social service organizations, civic groups, professional
associations, university alumni associations and similar groups.

The service will also make extensive use of FAQs, stored Q&As and other
searchable web resources. "We think of Wondir as the blending of a
universal search engine and a universal message board enlivened with
real
time communication," says the foundation's about us page. "Wondir will
unite Search and Community -- two pillars of the Internet that have not
yet lived up to their potential -- by making human help accessible and
as
simple as asking a question of a search engine."

Another unique angle is that Wondir will be an open source project. 
Koll
says this means that anyone can license and use the Wondir technology at
no cost, much like anyone can currently use Open Directory Project
directory data.

Koll also hopes that the open source nature of the project will attract
volunteers to help with the technological development of the service.
"We're using state of the art information retrieval," he said. "We're
doing the best relevance ranking and distributed search techniques" to
power the search engine.  The foundation is also seeking grants to do
advanced search technology research.

Wondir is currently ramping up to begin alpha tests of the service, and
is
seeking help both from volunteers and from sources interested in
sponsoring the effort.  Though no formal launch date has been
established,
Koll hopes that a public beta site will be available by the end of the
summer, with a full-scale launch during the fall.

Wondir's egalitarian plans are a refreshing reminder of the web's
origins
as a vast open community where ideas and services were freely shared. 
According to the foundation's web site:

"The core of Wondir is people and organizations who are committed to
helping others and who have a mission to reach out to others with
relevant
information and assistance -- in contrast to individuals who are trying
to
make money based on their ability to search the web or answer a
question.
There?s nothing wrong with that; it?s just quite different."

Different indeed -- and worthy of your support.

Wondir
http://wondir.org/

About The Wondir Service
http://wondir.org/more_about.shtml
A good overview of Wondir's goals and plans to reach and serve seniors,
disadvantaged kids, new citizens, and people with disabilities, along
with
more mainstream users.

How Wondir is Different
http://wondir.org/wondir_different.shtml
Though Wondir has many things in common with other web search services,
it's also dramatically different in many ways.

Support Wondir
http://wondir.org/support.shtml
Contact information for anyone wanting to help with the development of
Wondir, participate as an expert, or donate funding to the foundation.
</zitat>

Viele Grüße

Sebastian Wolf

-- 
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- Sebastian Wolf                    -
- UB Bielefeld ; Internet-Gruppe    -
- Tel.: 0521 / 106-4032             -
- E-Mail: wolf _at__ ub.uni-bielefeld.de  -
-------------------------------------