Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE): an end-user oriented institutional repository search service

Purpose: This paper describes the activities of Bielefeld University Library in establishing OAI based repository servers and in using OAI resources for end-user-oriented search services like BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine). Design/methodology/approach: BASE uses the search engine technology Fast Data Search. Findings: BASE is able to integrate external functions of Google Scholar. The search engine technology can replace or amend the search functions of a given repository software. BASE can also be embedded in external repository environments. Originality/value: The paper provides an overview over the functionalities of BASE and gives insight into the challenges that have to be faced when harvesting and integrating resources from multiple OAI servers