The main thing (as I understand it) that differentiates next-generation OPACs from federated search engines is where the records are. Federated search applications do not contain records for the items being searched -- they are searching external depositories of records. Next-generation OPAC applications do contain records for the items being searched -- they are searching internal depositories of records.
I think this distinction is critical for understanding the potential role of these two product categories. It definitely has implementation and work flow implications.
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See, for instance, in the Primo Architecture page where it talks about "Built-in pipes enable harvesting of library collections—the library catalog, digital repositories, and knowledge bases".
For Endeca, see the Endeca Information Access Platform
white paper where it describes the "The Information Transformation Layer (ITL) is a modular component framework that acquires data and content from enterprise systems and transforms it into the representation in the engine. This is a noninvasive process that takes a snapshot of the underlying data and content without altering the source."
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