From E-Sex to E-Commerce: Web Search Strategies  

The authors examine the idea that human information needs and searching behaviors are evolving along with Web content.

Jansen, Bernard J., Tefko Saracevic, Amanda Spink and Dietmar Wolfram. Pennsylvania State University (2002). Design>Web Design>Search>E Commerce

The Fundamentals of Quality Search

Explores how a web site can improve the way it allows its readers to search and provides nine guidelines for designing a search feature.

McGovern, Gerry. ClickZ (2001). Design>Web Design>Search

Fuzzy Matching as a Retrieval-Enabling Technique for Digital Libraries

This paper advocates an often-neglected search-support technique, approximate or 'fuzzy' matching of user search terms. When properly deployed, fuzzy matching can significantly enhance the benefits of other, more common approaches to end-user answer retrieval from online reference collections. We compare crude with more sophisticated approximation techniques to explain how astute fuzzy-match software can convert many different near-miss situations (such as those involving faulty prefixes or suffixes, character misplacement, nonstandard word stems, or unanticipated redescription of concepts) into more adequate results. We also suggest practical ways to overcome fuzzy matching's own major drawbacks (namely, problems with search speed, search imprecision, and misinterpretation of search results). The resulting analysis clarifies how to deploy fuzzy matching for maximum effectiveness. We conclude that appropriate fuzzy matching enables more frequent, more flexible search success than do ordinary retrieval-improvement techniques used without it.

Girill, T.R. and Clement H. Luk. CSU Chico (1996). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Search

Garbage In, Garbage Out: The Dirt on Google's New Algorithm

In 2004, Google's new search algorithm has search-engine savvy web marketers scrambling for content instead of search engine rankings.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive. Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

The Gentle Art of Questionnaire Design  

It is important for us to gain knowledge about our audiences before we start developing our information packages. It is equally important for us to get feedback after we have produced our information so that we know how well it was received by our audiences.

Ridgway, Lenore S. and Roger A. Grice. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys

Get The Credit You Deserve From Surveys

The wonders of technology have opened up easy-to-use on-line survey creation and analysis. Yet if you take the numbers the surveys provide at face value, you may be under-representing your audience's true responses. The following examples demonstrate how to phrase questions for more accurate results.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2002). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys

Getting the Most Use Out of Research Results

All too often companies conduct a survey and do nothing with the results. This problem can be avoided by making sure that management is committed to acting on the findings before you even conduct the research (the topic of this month's column) and developing highly actionable research tools (covered last month).

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (1999). Articles>Research>Methods

Getting the Most Use out of Research Results

All too often companies conduct a survey and do nothing with the results. This problem can be minimized through developing a highly actionable survey in the first place (the topic of this month's column) and making sure that management is committed to acting on the findings (to be covered next month). Here are some suggestions for developing a survey that leads to highly actionable results.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (1999). Articles>Research>Methods>Surveys

Getting to "the Right Stuff"

In a world awash with information, finding what you really want can be difficult. Any database or web index can deliver a set of results. But it's particularly difficult to highlight the most relevant 'stuff.' Web search engines such as Google and Yahoo try their best to recommend some items over others, and now libraries are trying to do this for their holdings.

Tennant, Roy. Library Journal (2005). Articles>Information Design>Search

A Glossary of Search Engine Ranking Terms

A glossary of commonly used terms in the world of search engine ranking.

Roy, Sumantra. 1stSearchRanking (2003). Design>Web Design>Glossary>Search Engine Optimization

Google 2.0

People using Microsoft's Internet Explorer are now being redirected to Microsoft's MSN when they make certain kinds of mistakes. This means that Microsoft is taking control of another part of the user experience. This article discusses how Google might be able to help users and solve a few other problems others along the way.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Web Design>Usability>Search

Google Optimization Secrets From The Trenches

What do learning how to outline a research paper and optimizing your website to rank highly in Google have in common? Much more than you might think at first glance.

SEOchat (2004). Articles>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

The Google Sandbox and How To Get Out

The Google Sandbox is a filter that was put in place in about March of 2004. New websites with new domain names can take 6 to 12 months to get decent rankings on Google. Some are reporting stays of up to 18 months. The Sandbox seems to affect nearly all new websites placing them on probation. Similarly, websites that have made comprehensive redesigns have been caught up in this Sandbox. Does this Sandbox Really Exist, or is it just part of the Google algorithm? This has been a big controversy with many different opinions. Most now believe that this is an algorithm. In either case, the Sandbox functions to keep new sites from shooting to the top of Google in just a few weeks and overtaking quality sites that have been around for many years. This appears to be an initiation period for new websites.

Williams, Doug. stevenforsyth.com (2006). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Engine Optimisation and their 80/20 Rule

Google's increasing use of anti-spam features has meant that optimising websites for Google has become much harder and it's now not just a case of opening your websites source files in notepad, adding some keywords into your various HTML tags, uploading your files and waiting for the results. In fact in my opinion and I'm sure others will agree with me, this type of optimisation, commonly referred to as onpage optimisation will only ever be 20% effective at achieving rankings for any keywords which are even mildly competitive. Those of us who aced maths in school will know this leaves us with 80% unaccounted for.

Callan, David. stevenforsyth.com (2005). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Search Engine Optimization

Google Search Engine Optimisation and their 80/20 Rule

Google's 80/20 rule means they apply a lot of of importance to off-page optimisation, such as inbound link text. On-page optimisation is now considered to be far less important.

Callan, David. Webcredible (2006). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Google, the Naked Emperor

Google rules. Wherever you turn you hear about a new Google initiative. Clearly, Google has the money to do some interesting things. But with all the hype and hullabaloo, it can be all too easy to overlook some serious flaws in Google's services. As librarians, we should not be giving Google a 'pass' that we would not afford other vendors. By being clear about Google's strengths and weaknesses, we can make effective decisions about when and how to use Google's services and advise our users appropriately.

Tennant, Roy. Library Journal (2005). Articles>Web Design>Search

Google's Advice For Your Website: Content

Google seems to be awarding more and more importance to good content - find out why and what you need to do.

Walsh, Joel. Webcredible (2005). Design>Web Design>Search>Search Engine Optimization

Google广告有害吗？

Google是一个什么样的公司？对于大多数人来说，对这个问题的回答会是“搜索”。虽然说Google确实是一个关注搜索的公司，它却并不靠搜索来生存。与之相反，和其它公司一样，由利益来决定。并且就像John Gruber所指出的，它通过出售广告来生存。 这使得Google成为一家广告公司。这意义也许比你一开始猜测的要深远的多了。 不过让我们不要走得太远。让我们来谈一会儿可用性。我将要向您解释Google对于广告的必要关注可以让我们学到很多可用性的内容。更严格的讲，这篇文章将描述一个困境，一个与Google对于发布商如何防止广告的建议紧密相关的困境。可用性解决了这个困境，也因此告诉我们许多如何将商务与用户体验结合起来。

Rhodes, John S. uiGarden (2006). (Chinese) Articles>Web Design>Ethics>Search

Graphical Interfaces To Support Information Search: An Annotated Bibliography

This bibliography is organized to provide a structured introduction to graphical interfaces to information systems. Overview articles and 'classic' systems provide background on past work in this field. Systems with Demo Potential can be accessed via the Internet for additional study. Other systems of interest are included, with the more developed or unique systems listed first, and divided between 2D and 3D visualizations. Articles about user-testing or evaluating graphical interfaces are included, as are references to other existing bibliographies on this topic. Where possible, annotations include links to articles in addition to citations, the authors' abstracts and additional comments. Identifying screenshots of systems are included when available.

Staley, Elizabeth. University of Illinois (2000). Resources>Bibliographies>User Interface>Search

Graphics and Ethos in Biomedical Journals    

This article describes a study that examined the tables and figures in articles from a basic research journal, The Journal of Cell Biology, and compared them to tables and figures from an applied medical journal, The New England Journal of Medicine. Comparison of graphics between the two journals shows sharp differences in terms of range of graphics types, visual consistency within and between articles, or use of color. As the articles take into account what is needed by different audiences, the graphics help to build the credibility of the journal. The study also addresses the question of how scientific visuals contribute to the persuasiveness of a writer, looking at how the graphics within an article affect the credibility or ethos of the writer.

Hutto, David. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2008). Articles>Research>Biomedical>Visual Rhetoric

Guide to Buying Traffic

While many niches depend on PPC search traffic, there’s a wide group of sites that benifit from bought traffic from individual sites. Often times you can get very high quality traffic that converts very well from niches that tend to deal in a more direct site to site type traffic deal, rather than 3rd party ad networks. This guide is mostly to be used when buying traffic from forums, from individual websites, and from “plug” type packages, yet there are many things that transfer over to more traditional PPC outlets.

Robbins, Kyle. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Search Engine Optimization>E Commerce

Guidelines for Evaluating Work with Digital Media

These guidelines from the MLA Committee on Computers and Emerging Technologies (CCET) deal with the hiring, reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes, are designed to help departments and faculty members implement effective evaluation procedures. These guidelines were approved by the MLA Executive Council at its 19-20 May 2000 meeting.

Modern Language Association (2000). Academic>Research>Assessment

The Guild Model  

The Guild Publishing Model is a workable and presently working model, taken seriously in computer science, economics, business, and demography among other fields; however, it has not entered the discussion of scholarly electronic communication. Instead, for example, discussion of scholarly communication in high energy physics focuses on arXiv.org, the repository model. We believe that this is a mistake; the GPM is an important and significant model that is worth noting, examining, and extending to other fields. The GPM can provide rapid sharing of information and increased comprehensive research access for those in academic departments or research institutes with small libraries, and it is an economically feasible model for institutions with basic computing support. The GPM is flexible, set up locally, according to interest, need, and available resources.

Kling, Rob, Lisa Spector and Geoff McKim. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2002). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online

Gunning for Google

Recent redesigns at Yahoo!, Microsoft Live Search, and Ask.com are providing graphically rich alternatives to the minimalist search giant.

Vella, Matt. BusinessWeek (2007). Design>Web Design>User Experience>Search

Half Web Searchers Enter One Query, Look at One Page of Results

Over 66% of searchers examine fewer than five results with more than one in three Web searchers viewing only on one document in a given session. Users' search strategies are not those believed traditionally effective, but a close analysis reveals they work well on the Web.

Light, Ann. Usability News (2003). Articles>Usability>Search