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NONPROFIT / SEARCH

Advanced Search & Bibliographic Digitisation Platform

10,000+ pages searchable in <1s

Full author bibliography indexed via Apache Solr fuzzy search.

How we turned a static archive into a search tool scholars could actually use, after previous attempts had stalled.

Apache SolrFuzzy SearchNLPFull-text Search
Situation

A cultural association had an author's entire digitised bibliography but lacked an effective tool to consult it. The need was a web platform allowing scholars to perform advanced semantic and full-text searches (Fuzzy Search) to find exact occurrences and phrase variants across thousands of pages, going beyond the limits of simple text search. Previous attempts had failed due to excessive development timelines.

Risk

The archive had value, but it was not usable. Another long development cycle would leave scholars with the same static material and no practical research workflow.

Decision

Validate search speed, result quality, and internal maintainability in a 30-day MVP before expanding the platform.

Intervention

We designed and developed a custom platform based on the Apache Solr search engine, configuring it to handle high-performance fuzzy searches and precise occurrence counting across large volumes of text. We implemented an architecture that includes a dedicated admin section, allowing association staff to upload, tag, and index new texts completely independently.

Result

A project that had been stuck for too long became usable in 30 days. Scholars could finally search more than 10,000 pages in under a second, and the association turned a static archive into a practical research tool its team could update independently.

Economic value

10,000+ pages searchable in <1s

Full author bibliography indexed via Apache Solr fuzzy search.

Before / after

BeforeStatic archive

AfterSearchable research tool

BeforePrevious attempts stalled

AfterUsable MVP in 30 days

BeforeUpdates required technical help

AfterStaff can upload and index new texts independently