<s>
BASE	O
(	O
Bielefeld	B-Application
Academic	I-Application
Search	I-Application
Engine	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
multi-disciplinary	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
to	O
scholarly	O
internet	O
resources	O
,	O
created	O
by	O
Bielefeld	O
University	O
Library	O
in	O
Bielefeld	O
,	O
Germany	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
such	O
as	O
Apache	B-Language
Solr	I-Language
and	O
VuFind	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
harvests	B-Application
OAI	O
metadata	O
from	O
institutional	O
repositories	O
and	O
other	O
academic	O
digital	O
libraries	O
that	O
implement	O
the	O
Open	O
Archives	O
Initiative	O
Protocol	O
for	O
Metadata	O
Harvesting	O
(	O
OAI-PMH	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
normalizes	O
and	O
indexes	B-Application
the	O
data	O
for	O
searching	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
OAI	O
metadata	O
,	O
the	O
library	O
indexes	B-Application
selected	O
web	O
sites	O
and	O
local	O
data	O
collections	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
searched	O
via	O
a	O
single	O
search	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
's	O
initial	O
goal	O
was	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
that	O
would	O
provide	O
users	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
university	O
's	O
research	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yet	O
as	O
the	O
initiative	O
advanced	O
,	O
the	O
creators	O
came	O
to	O
see	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
more	O
thorough	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
that	O
might	O
provide	O
users	O
access	O
to	O
academic	O
resources	O
outside	O
of	O
the	O
university	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
was	O
created	O
to	O
index	O
and	O
offer	O
access	O
to	O
scholarly	O
materials	O
such	O
journals	O
,	O
institutional	O
repositories	O
,	O
and	O
digital	O
collections	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
scientific	O
publications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
's	O
creators	O
emphasized	O
on	O
ensuring	O
open	O
access	O
to	O
scientific	O
knowledge	O
and	O
made	O
sure	O
that	O
its	O
search	B-Application
results	I-Application
only	O
included	O
materials	O
that	O
were	O
publicly	O
available	O
through	O
the	O
web	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
was	O
refined	O
and	O
improved	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
began	O
to	O
attract	O
users	O
from	O
all	O
over	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2007	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
received	O
funding	O
from	O
the	O
German	O
Research	O
Foundation	O
(	O
DFG	O
)	O
to	O
further	O
develop	O
and	O
improve	O
the	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
then	O
,	O
BASE	O
has	O
become	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
largest	O
and	O
most	O
comprehensive	O
search	B-Application
engines	I-Application
for	O
academic	O
resources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
search	B-Application
engine	I-Application
has	O
been	O
involved	O
in	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Open	O
Archives	O
Initiative	O
Protocol	O
for	O
Metadata	O
Harvesting	O
(	O
OAI-PMH	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
facilitate	O
the	O
exchange	O
of	O
metadata	O
between	O
digital	O
repositories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
BASE	O
does	O
not	O
currently	O
offer	O
full	B-Application
text	I-Application
search	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contrasts	O
with	O
commercial	O
search	B-Application
engines	I-Application
in	O
multiple	O
ways	O
,	O
including	O
in	O
the	O
types	O
and	O
kinds	O
of	O
resources	O
it	O
searches	O
and	O
the	O
information	O
it	O
offers	O
about	O
the	O
results	O
it	O
finds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bibliographic	B-Library
data	I-Library
is	O
provided	O
in	O
several	O
formats	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
results	O
may	O
be	O
sorted	O
by	O
multiple	O
fields	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
by	O
author	O
or	O
year	O
of	O
publication	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Paying	O
customers	O
include	O
EBSCO	B-Library
Information	I-Library
Services	I-Library
who	O
integrated	O
BASE	O
into	O
their	O
EBSCO	O
Discovery	O
Service	O
(	O
EDS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Non-commercial	O
services	O
can	O
integrate	O
BASE	O
search	O
for	O
free	O
using	O
an	O
API	B-Application
.	O
</s>
