Google Appliance + OPAC = ?

The University of Sunderland is one of many institutions exploring the use of a Google Search Appliance. They are interested in how this might be used to enhance searches of their library catalogue, or offer the ability to search library holdings along with other institutional resources on the web.

Talis' Richard Wallis discussed some of the initial thoughts behind this project here, and attracted responses from within Google and elsewhere.

As we work to place library services right in the environments where potential library users spend their time, and make them useful and visible there, these are exactly the sorts of issues with which we have to grapple. Exposing a list of books to a search engine is fine, but we need to find ways to make them 'compete' effectively with the web pages around them in the index. How often do you find a book from OpenWorldCat coming back high in the results list of a Google search? Are many books not held enough, cited enough, bought enough, and borrowed enough that they 'deserve' to appear high in any result set from a search engine that claims to be organising the world's information?

What might be possible, were we in a position to aggregate and expose such data?

Those interested in the capabilities of the Google Search Appliance might also like to read a short piece by Sebastian Rahtz at the University of Oxford, which appeared in the January 2005 issue of Ariadne. Looking for a Google Box? details some of Oxford's experiences in trying to integrate one of these Appliances into their existing infrastructure, and the article led to a number of discussions between Universities and Google. There have also been enhancements to the Appliance since the article was written, and it would be interesting to hear of experiences people are having in 2006...