CC OpenSearch

"OpenSearch is a collection of simple formats for the sharing of search results."[1]

This page concerns how an OpenSearch supporting search service might indicate that it facilitates queries filtered by license and how results might be annotated with license info.

OpenSearch consists of a format describing a search service and extensions of RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 to faciliate returning search results in these syndication formats.

OpenSearch Description Document

OpenSearch Description Document is a file format for describing a search service that supports OpenSearch.

Attribution and SyndicationRights elements are not relevant -- they describe search results, not the content referred to by search results.

How should a CC-enabled search engine describe itself? Two options:

• Multiple descriptions, one corresponding to each filter services wishes to expose, e.g., one of four for each of the examples CcSearch_integration here, specifically four OpenSearch Description Documents, each with a Url element (or elements, corresponding to HTML/RSS/Atom outputs) hardcoding desired filter, like

<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://flickr.com/search/?l=cc&q={searchTerms}" />

<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://flickr.com/search/?l=comm&q={searchTerms}" />

<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://flickr.com/search/?l=deriv&q={searchTerms}" />

<Url type="application/rss+xml" template="http://flickr.com/search/?l=commderiv&q={searchTerms}" />

URL templates

OpenSearch Response Elements

OpenSearch Response Elements extend syndication formats to faciliate using these to convey search results.

It should be possible to use existing RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 license extensions to indicate the licensing of resources referred to in search feeds.

Todo

• Determine best practice for using OpenSearch Description Document to indicate availability of CC filtered search.
• Encourage search services that support OpenSearch and remember license info for searchable materials to include license annotations in OpenSearch result feeds, per existing extensions.

See Also

• http://www.opensearch.org
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSearch
• CcSearch -- CC's simple "frame" interface available at http://search.creativecommons.org, unrelated in terms of technology to OpenSearch
• Syndication -- license annotations in syndication formats