+ Branding matters — even when searching (via Penn St. Live)
Even though a recent study shows that first page results vary from one engine to the next (much more than some would believe) a new study from Dr. Jim Jansen and co-author, Mimi Zhang shows that branding of the engine itself is key as much as the actual results.

We were sad to see that Ask.com*, Clusty, and Exalead were not included in the study. All offer features unavailable elsewhere that can also save the user time, effort, and aggravation. The challenge is to not only offer them but to also explain/demo/show how useful they can be especially when people tend to use what they already know. This study goes also shows that changing searcher behavior is quite a challenge.

Finally, where do specialty engines/verticals (both fee and free) fit in. We’re talking both about those available remotely from libraries, on company intranets, and on the web. How do they get convey their services for specific types of information and create a strong brand? In some cases, how do you get the point across that they are worth a fee? How can any of these tools save the time and effort of the searcher if they are unknown in the first place? Of course, one way is with some search or perhaps better said, online research training (think driver ed like) that librarians, educators and other info pros are fully capable of handling. It’s all about using the right tool at the right time. No one search tool is ideal in all situations. Thanks to PW for the news tip.
* Gary is Director of Online Info at Ask.com
Examples:
Clusty
++ Clusty
Note the dynamic clusters (by subject, source, sites) that can help increase precision with little effort and also help the searcher “see” things they might otherwise miss. A job search using Clusty also offers this technology as does SearchUSA.gov (also take notice of the FAQ’s at the top of the results). We’ve also like the ability to embed a result directly into the results list by simply clicking the magnifying glass icon.

Exalead
+ Note the page preview that when clicked takes you to a cached version of the page.
+ Numerous narrowing options available with just a click (language, format, site type, etc.)
+ Option to Customize the Home Page with Images of “Favorite Pages”
+ For the advanced search several options unavailable elsewhere (truncation, proximity, etc.)

Ask.com
Here are a few examples.
++ Focusing on things you don’t always find elsewhere and ease of use. Try Zip Codes Springfield, Boston Red Sox Logos Children’s Books, Market Cap General Motors, and/or The Rolling Stones.
Look for direct links to key resources (Smart Answers), binoculars (page previews), Zoom related results results to narrow/expand/ find related names and more. In the case of the Rolling Stones you can even preview popular tracks directly from the results page.

+ PubMed Central Hits One Million Article Mark

+ eSnips Adds Slideshow Feature
eSnips makes saving, storing, and sharing just about any type of content easy. Each account is given 5GB of storage space. Btw, you can also embed your slide show on any web page. Look for the slide show icon with folders that contain imagery.

+ STM Future Lab Committee getting into gear

STM is pleased to announce the creation of the Future Lab Committee, a high level brainstorming group on ‘Technology Trends’. When deciding to establish a new Standards and Technology Portfolio earlier this year, the STM Board identified the creation of the Committee as an important part of the portfolio.

+ MetaCarta to Provide IHS with Geographic Data

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 and is filed under New Websites and Resources, Online Education, Software and Web-Based Applications, Source File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.