Google search for research could help industry
17 universities around the world, including institutes in Italy and
the UK, aimed at improving access to research papers.
The initiative builds on the development of so-called superarchives, first pioneered by project partner the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and since adopted by many other leading institutions, which are used to store the research papers, reports and other work of a university's academic staff, according to a report on Cordis News.
Google has indexed university web pages for some time, but the new project aims to allow Internet users to limit their searches to these on-campus libraries of research material. It is hoped that this will help improve the chances of finding a particular research paper, as well as promote the free publication of research and the circulation of ideas.
MacKenzie Smith, associate director of technology for MIT's libraries, said: "As more and more content is on the web, it's harder and harder to find the high quality stuff that you need."
The participating universities have all developed the required metatag labelling system that will allow Google's search engine to sort through the information and present the most relevant results.
The UK partner in the project, Cranfield University, said it got involved in the hope that the new system would create a higher profile for its mainly industry-oriented research.
However, it remains to be seen how happy researchers will be to spread the word about their work before it is published in the traditional, peer-review journal manner.
If all goes well with the pilot project, the new search feature could appear in the advanced search section of the website within a few months.
