Title: ASAP, Advanced Search Algorithm Protocol
Link: http://www.xxp.org/asap_prototype/ Description:
Since the inception of the XCRI strand of work there has been an increasing expectation that XCRI will address vocabularies, particularly subject vocabularies, even though this is not directly within its remit. A common method of searching across repositories of learning opportunities has been the ‘holy grail’ of course information systems, so that learners do not have to grapple with different search mechanics in otherwise very similar systems. The project took a sample subject area from several subject classification systems and lists of keywords and mapped them to a common spine vocabulary. It developed a web-based demonstrator of the full service, and a working prototype for the sample subject area. The prototype showed how a user can select a search term from a keyword list or subject classification system and obtain search results from a different keyword list or classification system used in the course information system. The project investigated and compared the quality of results using the ‘native’ system and the enhanced subject search service.
Tags: vocabularies, subjects, web services
