The Spider and Search System for Learning Objects (SASSLO) is a free, open source, easy-to-use system which lets you search for and build up a set of learning objects (i.e. video files, applets, flash files) which can then be searched using a powerful search engine. The system is implemented using PHP, with the indexed data stored in XML and the downloaded files stored in their original format.

The SASSLO system has two components, as shown below.

1) The SASSLO Spider and Download Engine
Users use the spider and download engine to search for and download desired learning objects by specifing file types of interest (such as 'video files' or 'image files') and supplying a web address at which SASSLO starts searching. After files have been downloaded the user then previews them, selects which ones to keep, and annotates the files with appropriate information. See the spider and download engine user manual here for examples. The system can also handle applets. See 'Some notes on Java Learning objects' here for more information.

2) The SASSLO Search Engine
After the learning objects database is built users can use the search engine to search through the stored learning objects. The files of interest can then be downloaded and used. See the search engine user manual here for examples.