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CustomizedSearching
Page history last edited by Lindsay 2 yrs ago
Customized Searching
Why not rely on the private sector for search engines?
Cost
- Licensing agreements rarely allow for non-patron groups to use licensed databases
- Due to the demand from the public for library resources that can't be shared due to licensing agreements, YC Library provides a Be Your Own Librarian webpage
Availablility
- What if there isn't a database for your subject area?
- Can you afford to wait for a company to create one for you?
Meet the needs of tiny libraries
- Small NGOs, small departments, and individuals often want to create their own library-like resources
- Desire to share research with others
- Create a social community by sharing resources
- Topic areas are often very obscure and will probably never be put into a search engine
Custom Search Engines
What are they?
- Individuals can create specialized search engines by:
- Selecting websites to search
- Choosing ways to refine results, e.g. to BC or Canadian websites
- Making the custom search engine available to others on any web page
Where can you get one?
Examples
- Consumer Health Search (Irving K. Barber Learning Centre): using Google Custom Search this search engine searches selected quality consumer health websites and allows users to refine their search to BC or Canadian websites.
- PhysioSearch (Irving K. Barber Learning Centre): another Google Custom Search, this allows users to search selected quality websites of relevance to practising physiotherapists in BC and Canada. Users can refine results to BC or Canadian websites and to websites aimed at consumer or at professionals.
- Go Fish (UBC Library): another Google Custom Search, this one aimed at fisheries researchers searching for grey literature. Users can refine results to Canadian, American or International web sites. A major advantage of Google Custom Search over Rollyo is that non-profits, universities and government agencies can choose not to display ads.
- Free Academic Databases: Indexes databases of academic merit that are free to access for any library that wants to link to it.
- Librarian's E-Library: Selected resources on Libraries and Librarianship from the American Library Association (ALA) Library and a growing list of volunteers.
- EMR Library: Recommended websites and online resources from the Energy, Mines, and Resources Library for the Yukon Government.
Cataloguing Personal Book Collections
What are they?
- An online collection of a tiny library
- Sometimes for NGOs or research centres, often of an individual's collection
- Sharing one's reading list can be a highly social experience
- Individuals can create specialized their own library catalogue by:
- Choosing which books to list
- Collecting publishing information about the item (some software will retrieve that for the user if the user provides the ISBN)
- Assigning subject headings, tags, keywords, etc.
- Providing access to the list either by promotion or through the social networking options available in the online catalogue
Where can you get one?
Examples
Further Reading
SearchEngineWatch: this website includes the latest news, reviews and ratings on new and existing search engines.
CustomizedSearching
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