Drexel University (Drexel University, CIST)

This project will investigate and evaluate ways of improving library and museum searching and social tagging by presenting users with thesauri, taxonomies, and other structured vocabularies as a way to discover relevant content. Investigators will create and test a prototype tool that serves as a mediator between the user and search interfaces, allowing users to search multiple digital collections simultaneously. The prototype will also allow users to create annotations that may be useful to others. Drexel University’s College of Information Science and Technology will lead the study, in cooperation with partners at the University at Buffalo, Getty Research Institute, ARTstor, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The results will ultimately be useful to a wide range of museum and library users and can be directly applied by library and museum service providers and search engine designers.