Federated World Directory of Mathematicians
Federated searching connotes any system that provides a common user interface for searching and retrieving information across heterogeneous datasets over the Internet.
- Join the Electronic World Directory and make it easier for colleagues to find you.
- Three search interfaces are available: Basic, Standard, and Advanced interfaces. Feedback is very welcome.
- Demonstrations (in PowerPoint) of the FWDM: Demo from SIAM Computing Science and Engineering 2005 (CSE'05), with 2006 update.
- Detailed project description, overview, and extensive discussion (August 2006) (PDF).
- A detailed project timeline from 2005/2006 is available.
Background
In 1998 the CEIC was asked to explore the feasibility of an electronic World Directory of Mathematicians to replace the traditional hard copy. The CEIC concluded that, while desirable, intellectual property and privacy issues in different countries made this impossible for the 2002 edition of the WDM. In 2003, the CEIC decided that with the emergence of better Internet search tools it was realistic to build a federated directory, as defined above. This provides a rapid and simple search over existing online databases with no additional work for the user. Work on the Federated World Directory of Mathematicians (FWDM) began shortly thereafter, and the official release of the FWDM is coming soon!