At 16:03 17-09-2003 -0400, Ray Denenberg, Library of Congress wrote:

>I thought the requirement was to send the *same* query to multiple databases
>(at the same server). Sending *different* queries would be complex, but I
>don't understand that to be a firm requirement. Is is?

That depends on your definition of firm, but I do believe it *is* a
requirement. In practice, metasearch engines will frequently need to adapt
queries to individual databases.. a genealogical database supports
different access points from a bibliographic one, and yet these types are
often searched together, and are often hosted by the same operator.

>And if not, wouldn't sending the *same* query be significantly simpler --
>all we need to do is allow specification of multiple destinations (and there
>are a number of ways to do that).

Yes, it would be.

>And on the response: is it necessary to bundle responses together or is
>multiple responses ok?

They presumably have to be bundled in some fashion, if they come as a
response to a single request (or compound request), but precisely what form
that bundle takes is open for discussion.. but I think it is essential that
the hit-counts from each resource be visible, and that result sets be
accessible independently.

--Sebastian
--
Sebastian Hammer, Index Data <http://www.indexdata.dk/>
Ph: +45 3341 0100, Fax: +45 3341 0101