Automated retrieval from multiple disparate information sources: The World Wide Web and the NLM's sourcerer project

The burgeoning amount of information available via the Internet has heightened awareness of the need for improved tools for resource identification. The U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Sourcerer project is developing software which accepts a user query, automatically identifies appropriate information resources, and facilitates connection to those sources for information retrieval. The current Sourcerer prototype utilizes the multimedia/multiplatform/multiprotocol network‐based hypertext system known as World Wide Web. It also relies upon the knowledge sources of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). The UMLS is the result of a long‐term project of NLM. It comprises a large Metathesaurus of biomedical concepts (coupled with a semantic network and syntactical/lexical software tools) and the Information Sources Map (ISM), a database of records describing specific biomedical information resources. Recent advances in the standardization of information exchange over computer networks, coupled with the tools provided by UMLS, facilitate query refinement and augmentation, connection to resources, and retrieval from resources. Daunting challenges remain with respect to optimizing resource descriptions, defining optimal algorithms for searching for sources, optimizing user interface design, and organizing retrieved information. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.