Features and tools
CORDIS Search has introduced a number of new features and tools to help users navigate their way round the CORDIS domain. These include RSS, E-mail notification, Save searches, Similar items and Recommended links.
RSS/XML Extractions
The CORDIS Search RSS works like most other syndicated content feeds using something called XML extractions. XML, or ‘extensible markup language’, is a way of making documents machine-readable. The RSS feed is built around your query (search preferences), extracting already available CORDIS news, events or other frequently updated content and displaying it as tailored information in your browser. Feeds are a popular way of keeping up with new developments in a field. Properly used, along with other tools like the CORDIS E-mail alerts they can filter out the information or ‘white noise’ that we all face nowadays.
Clicking on the RSS symbol 
which appears at the top of your search results page gives you a pared down presentation of so-called ‘feeds’ – the items in your results available for syndication, for example:
Here you can see a preview of the feed items you can subscribe to which relate to the search 'future and emerging technologies'. Before actually subscribing, we recommend you further refine such a list, using the filtering tools on the right of the screen. That way you don't fill your 'common feed list' or browser with junk feeds or things you won't read.
Similar items
Frequent web surfers will know the benefits of recommendations, whether from one traveller commenting to another about a nice hotel, or software which ‘learns’ what books you like based on what you or ‘others like you’ buy. CORDIS Search works on the same principle of helping you extend your research and discover new information related to the original search (query) terms you provided. (See Refine to get better results for an example of when to use the Similar items tool.)
By clicking on ‘Similar items’ you will probably get a smaller list than your original which can help you narrow down your search to the most relevant information faster, for example:
The orginal search on 'future and emerging technologies' yields some 40 300 results. Just clicking the 'Similar items' on the top result reduces that to around 2 039. Click the top result of that list and it drops to 154, same again on that list and you get just 35 'refined' results.
Last updated on: 2011-06-07
