An application framework for distributed information retrieval

To date, the adoption of content-based Distributed Informa-tion Retrieval (DIR) solutions within the domain of Digital Libraries(DL) remains rather limited. We contend that the lack of open applica-tion frameworks is a major obstacle. Not only to the rapid developmentand reuse of state-of-the art DIR functionality, but also to the holisticevaluation of competing DIR approaches. In this paper, we present thedesign and implementation of one such framework; as well as its usewithin the context of the DILIGENT infrastructure: a testbed of dedi-cated hardware, middleware and application services built explicitly forthe DL domain upon the lower-level facilities of the first European GRIDplatform (EGEE). We conclude with a summary of future plans for itslarge scale deployment, testing and evaluation within this context.