How To Set Up a Google 'Federated Search' For Membership/Association-based NPOs

Morgan Sully — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:13:43 +0000

For fun, I created a 'federated search' for personal use at my org.

My Beta: http://www.namac.org/federated-search-beta

It was easy as pie to set up in under 5 minutes:

Get csv/xls spreadsheet of URLs you want to search (in my case a list of NAMAC's Member Orgs)
Set up Google Custom Search: http://www.google.com/coop/cse/ and login
Paste your orgs in the 'list of URLs to search'
Save the URL to go to to perform the search or grab the generated code to paste anywhere you like.

Easy. I use it to monitor/search what our Member Orgs are writing as well as as look for specific resources WITHIN the NAMAC network -

3 Ways to Use It:

Search for 'funding partners' to see where money is coming from/going from funders + what kinds of projected competitors/members and 'frenemies' are getting funded
Search for 'directory' to see if more info can be aggregated/mashed up;)
Um... I'm not sure yet, but maybe you've got an idea or two?

Librarian's Internet Index

Jessica McCoy — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:27:05 +0000

So I just ran across an interesting site, the Librarian's Internet Index. As the name suggests, it is an index of websites organized into categories and then subtopics. Each area contains links and short descriptions of relevant, useful websites. The sites listed have actually been reviewed by librarians and recommended as containing quality information. These aren't just random Google search results. Seems like this could be a useful research tool, especially for folks working with young people in/outside of schools.

The site also offers a "New this Week" email newsletter. Opening of the Oct. 26 newsletter: "This week grow what you know with websites about elections, Halloween festivities, iron ore, invisibility cloaks, federal spending, spider bites, paper cranes, prisons in the UK, and more. Bon appetit from librarians Karen, Wendy, Jennifer, Maria, and Charlotte."

Hmmm...Maybe it's a little old-school, but I like it. I like it because the hit-or-miss nature of search engines can be frustrating (especially when working with kids!). And because I think librarians are cool people. :o)

--Jessica

Digital Arts Service Corps - search

How To Set Up a Google 'Federated Search' For Membership/Association-based NPOs

Librarian's Internet Index