What is a metasearch?
A metasearch is known by many names: integrated, federated, broad, parallel, cross, single, or simultaneous search, to name a few. In brief, it allows you to search multiple databases from different vendors. For example, TLU’s metasearch allows you, simultaneously, to search databases from EBSCO, ProQuest, and ThomsonGale. An example of a simultaneous search confined to one vendor is EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete, which searches almost all the EBSCO databases to which TLU has access. To qualify as a true federated search, the search must search databases from different vendors.
