Introduction

“Multiply Your Search” is about enabling users to reach into library resources widely and deeply with a single search. It's about bringing the content siloed in disparate databases within reach of everyone who seeks it, and about exposing your library's resources to as many users as possible. However complex this endeavor may be in terms of coding connections to databases and search engines in every language and protocol, in the end it all comes down to saving the time of the user. Many librarians see federated search tools as the key to bringing these goals within our reach. In the first of two companion pieces, Alexis Linoski and Tine Walczyk get us started with everything there is to know about evaluating the relative merits of federated search products. The other half of the story begins after the buying decision is made, and for that we have a step-by-step guide from Lisa A. Ellis, Joseph Hartnett, and Michael Waldman of Baruch College on their recent Bearcat search implementation. Melissa L. Rethlefsen gives perspective from the other side of the federated search equation, reminding us that good research is inherently difficult and that it is false advertising to suggest that any tool, no matter how powerful, can actually make it easy. Finally, Karen Coombs devotes her Last Byte column to the open source federated search options available to those libraries with the IT prowess to leverage these “free” tools for all they're worth.