SpidersRUs: Creating specialized search engines in multiple languages

Abstract

While small-scale search engines in specific domains and languages are increasingly used by Web users, most existing search engine development tools do not support the development of search engines in languages other than English, cannot be integrated with other applications, or rely on proprietary software. A tool that supports search engine creation in multiple languages is thus highly desired. To study the research issues involved, we review related literature and suggest the criteria for an ideal search tool. We present the design of a toolkit, called SpidersRUs, developed for multilingual search engine creation. The design and implementation of the tool, consisting of a Spider module, an Indexer module, an Index Structure, a Search module, and a Graphical User Interface module, are discussed in detail. A sample user session and a case study on using the tool to develop a medical search engine in Chinese are also presented. The technical issues involved and the lessons learned in the project are then discussed. This study demonstrates that the proposed architecture is feasible in developing search engines easily in different languages such as Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and Arabic. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.