SiteLines - Ideas About Web Searching

Google Guide

This is a handy new web guide to using Google. Produced by Nancy Blachman, a co-author of the book How to Do Everything With Google. The site is designed for searchers who want to go "behind the box" to understand how Google actually does its job. Although the guide provides better search help than Google's own meagre help files, the coverage focuses on functionality and features.

Sourcing US Laws and Government Documents

In the Winter 2004 issue of the SLA Courier, Stephanie Blundell of AIC Investment Services has contributed a handy overview and link list of major starter sites for finding US government documents, including treaties, regulations, federal and state legislation, and related search tools. Available at the Courier web site or in PDF.

Guide to conducting surveys online

Cheap or free do-it-yourself web survey tools like Surveymonkey.com make it ridiculously easy for novices to create and execute web-based surveys. To the rescue comes the Rand Corporation's GUIDE TO CONDUCTING SURVEYS VIA EMAIL AND THE WEB, a 22 page summary and literature review on the topic of using web and email surveys. The authors provide an overview of the various aspects of the research survey process, guidelines for choosing the type of Internet survey to use, and suggestions for designing and implementing Internet surveys. The report is available for purchase in paperback but it is also available online in PDF format, at no charge.

Resources for Information Architects

If you're responsible for designing and maintaining your organization's web site, you may be interested in Martin White's recent roundup of resources for information architecture, which includes links to important web sites, books, discussion lists and conferences. From the February 2004 issue of Update.

Article: The Business of Search Engines

My article "The business of search engines: how advertising, partnerships, and the race for market dominance affects search tools and search results" has just been published in the February 2004 issue of SLA Information Outlook. Members can read the article with username/password login at http://www.sla.org/content/memberonly/infoonline/2004/February2004/SearchEngines.cfm -- the journal is also available through Proquest (but as of today was not yet available at the Proquest site).

Google's Goofs - including some that may actually matter

In his February 1 issue of ResourceShelf.com, Gary Price recently pulled together a series of short entries about issues and concerns regarding Google. There are several inconsistencies in search syntax that need fixing; using the backward link search syntax (used commonly to see who is linking to a particular page) only pulls results with a minimum PageRank; announcing command-line search services that either don't work properly (like airline flight numbers) or are removed shortly after announcement (like the WHOIS lookup). Price concludes (and I agree) that these gaffs, as well as the introduction of many potential revenue-generating services that are unrelated to search (like Google email, which was rumoured by several sources last week), could indicate that Google is moving away from its primary focus on search relevance in favor of expanded revenue generation models.

Toolbars: Trash or Treasures

Librarian Greg Notess contributes a thorough and informed review of various search engine toolbars, in the January/February issue of Online Magazine. Notess reviews the major toolbars and offers readers pro's and con's of downloading and installing them.

On the plus side, Notess recognizes that toolbars can make some search tasks easier. Some even have neat features like pop-up blockers and text highlighters that offer additional conveniences. On the downside, there are potential security risks in installation, and in some cases, the toolbar software may collect information about web pages visited. Notess concludes by noting that the toolbars are really a fabulous form of advertising, and admits that he rarely uses them.