I hereby declare our implementation of 360 Search launched! Please post any comments that you have about the final product here--DO NOT email them to me, or they will be lost forever! :)
Here are some details of final work that was/is being done, as well as some items for you all to comment upon:
1. I've taken Quick Search box on the homepage out of beta, and I've cleaned up the code a bit so that it performs better. Skyline is also included now. Also, I changed the default search for Quick Search from title to keyword. Let me know if you think that makes a difference and whether the difference is for better or worse. The likely outcome will be more results, so I guess the question is, is it too many results?
2. A couple of changes were made to the Top Twelve databases (the ones searched by the Quick Search box) due to concurrent usage limitations. Biographies Plus Illustrated (Wilson) has been replaced with the Biography and Genealogy Master Index (but with unsatisfactory results today). Web of Science--with profuse apologies to Elaine--has been replaced by ScienceDirect. Any other suggestions for a biography resource? Should we just leave it out?
3. The link on home page to the full 360 interface (where one can choose a subject) is called "Advanced Search." I have the feeling, though, that I'm forgetting what suggested wording was, so please refresh my memory if you recall something different.
4. The peer review check box will be removed on Thursday, October 11th. As I mentioned in a previous email, the technology is not there yet to make this an effective enough feature; the metadata that 360 Search draws on is not yet standardized. I have yet to see it actually work, and I would rather the students trust their own judgement than a faulty feature.
5. I'll be working with the reference staff on ways to integrate customized search boxes onto subject guides--see this copy of the Education Guide--and elsewhere on the library web site.
6. There are other behind-the-scenes cleanups for me to make, but for the most part, they will not affect end user use of the product.
7. What have I forgotten? Remind me! :)
The floor is now open for your comments, critiques, questions, suggestions--post away! This can be about anything: the search interface, the subject groupings, which databases are included in which subjects, product performance, etc.
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5 comments:
Hi Nina, I still need to look more closely at everything but a few comments. I think a biography database can be left out of Quick Search for now.
Yes - I believe we did come up with some spiffy ideas regarding the wording for Advanced Search so let me tap my notes and my brain (OW!)
Are you planning roll-over comments over Quick Search and what is now called Advanced Search?
More later. Thanks again for all the work. I'm using the Quick Search more and more at the Reference Desk. I still have some questions on best practices but that's part of the natural evolution.
I've forgotten my Google account info so this is listed as Anonymous. Ellen M.
Testing...
A few overall comments:
1) Subject groups under Advanced Search: I would like to see Ebooks and Primary Sources added; we get requests for primary sources a lot. If 360 won't work with those sources, at least list them as in ADI as "black boxes" that need to be searched individually.
2) Leave Academic OneFile & Academic Search Premier off if there are specialized databases in the field, e.g. Business & Finance.
Specifics on business: EconLit -- no box?? Add General Business File ASAP, the other core database in addition to Business Source Premier (EBSCO) and PROMPT (Gale). Delete ValueLine -- ref desk personnel must put in a password.
3) Add "black box" databases from ADI to that cannot be searched from 360, e.g. GMID, Hoovers, ISI, STAT-USA, Thomas, for business.
4) CJ & Law: add Campus Research (Westlaw) and JSTOR -- contains 25 major journals full text.
We came up with an alternative name for Advanced Search at the bibliographers meeting though now I've forgotten it, of course. I'm sure the reference people will have ideas on that as well when you go to their meeting. I do think it would help our students to have that changed to something more descriptive.
Note to reference people - you will be getting lists of all the databases and websites not currently on the new 360 subject pages (but currently are part of the adi pages) to see which should be added to 360. (These are ones that can't be cross-searched but we still want listed).
Hi Nina--My comments are about the advanced search subject categories for science, medicine & engineering. In my experience so far, the existing categories are a bit too broad to get relevant results in some cases, and I think breaking them down a bit would be helpful. I would suggest these subject categories: Biological sciences, Computer science/mathematics, Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Earth sciences, Engineering, Science, and Medicine, nursing & allied health. Any thoughts? Elaine
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