Search computing focuses on building answers to complex search queries (for example, "Where can I attend an interesting conference in my field near a sunny beach?") by interacting with a constellation of cooperating search services, and using result ranking and joining as the dominant factors for service composition. The service computing paradigm has so far been neutral to the specific features of search applications and services. To address this weakness, search computing advocates a new approach in which search, join, and ranking are the central aspects for service composition.

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Search Computing defines a new class of applications, which enable end users to perform exploratory search processes over multi-domain data sources available on the Web. These applications exploit suitable software frameworks and models that make it possible for expert users to configure the data sources to be searched and the interfaces for query submission and result visualization. We describe some usage scenarios and the reference architecture for Search Computing systems.@en