Federated Search Overview

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PLEASE NOTE: This information was updated in August 2023 following the Credo platform refresh. For more about the update see here, or contact support@credoreference.com 

https://credoreference.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5373033985819-2023-Credo-and-Source-Reference-Platform-Updates

Federated Searching

The Credo platform allows subscribers to integrate third-party resources, such as those from EBSCO, Gale, ProQuest, and Infobase, as well as compatible library catalogs, onto their search results pages. Please note that other than the free "Web Resources," you must have an active subscription to the other vendor's product to activate the connection. 

The Federated Search function is controlled in your Infobase Admin at https://admin.infobase.com. The credentials for this site are the same as your legacy Credo Admin credentials. 

Enabling Federated Search Links

1. Go to https://admin.infobase.com and look for the Product Settings drop-down menu. Choose "Links" (not "Link to Other Databases"). You will see a list of vendors with plus signs (+) next to them. 

 

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2. Click the plus sign next to the appropriate vendor (EBSCO, Gale, Infobase, etc). The resources available from that vendor are arranged alphabetically. The URL shown cannot be edited; if there is an issue with the URL, please contact support@credoreference.com.

3. Click "Activate" next to the resource. If no credentials are required, the "Active" Column will change from No to Yes, and the "Settings" column will change from "Activate" to "Deactivate."

4. Some resources require credentials for the vendor's API. If these are required, a new screen will pop up to input them. These values may not match your existing credentials for that resource; please contact support@credoreference.com for help with set-up.

The "Optional Authentication Querystring" can be used by institutions without a proxy to add a customer ID or password string for authentication purposes. This string will be added to the end of the outgoing article links. 

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5. The "Web Resources" tab shows publicly accessible resources. No active subscription to these resources is necessary to enable them. 

6. Once you have multiple resources enabled, they can be re-ordered using the "Set Active Resources Order" button on the same page. This is a drag-and-drop menu. 

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7. These resources appear on Credo search results pages, behind the "More Library Resources" tab

 

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Notes: 

  • If these resources enabled, the search word or phrase entered into the Credo search box is also passed to each third-party resource, and the first three results returned are shown on the page. A click on any of these articles will open a new tab/window showing the article on the vendor's site.  There is also a link to see all results in the resource for this term ("See all x results"), which will open the vendor's site to the search results page.
  • The search in these resources is done through the API published by the vendor, so the results may not match the front-end results for this resource. Currently, no filtering by subject is possible. If no results are returned by the vendor, the resource does not appear in your Credo account for that search. 
  • If a particular resource from a supported vendor is missing, or if you'd like us to work with a new vendor, please contact support@credoreference.com  to communicate your request.

 

For information on the resources compatible with federated searching, see the vendor-specific articles in the Federated Searching section of the Help Center.

 

 

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