Appropriateness for Students:-
Are the records clean and
COPPA compliant?
- Does the database include e-commerce
sites?
- Are any records in the
database
accessible only to paid members/require paid subscription?
-
Do any records listed have excessive advertising?
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SEARCH ENGINE
FUNCTIONALITY & DESIGN
All search engines let you enter some keywords and search on them. What happens inside? Can you limit in ways
that will increase your chances of finding what you are looking for?-
General Search Features:
- Does it support basic boolean searching (AND, OR and " ")?
- Are plurals searched for along with singular formats?
- Is there an easy way to allow for synonyms and equivalent terms? (i.e.
searches for "math" and "mathematics" have the same results)
- Can you count on consistent results from search to search and from day
to day?
Advanced Search Options:
- Are any offered?
- Can you require your search terms in specific fields, such as the
document title?
- Can you restrict to documents only from a certain domain (.org, .edu,
.gov, etc.)? Limit to more than one or only one?
- Is there an ability to search within previous results?
- Can you filter or sort results in any way?
- Can you limit by type of document (pdf, xls, etc.)? More than one?
- Can you limit by language?
Educational Features:
- Are grade levels associated with each listing?
- How are misspelled words handled?
Navigation
- Can you easily go from one page of search results to the next (and
get back)?
- Is the search box placed in the same place on every page? Is there
one on every page?
- Can you browse sites by topic/category as well as search by
keyword/phrase?
- Is there a quick way to go to similar sites to those in your
results?
User Interface
- Is the design clean and free from clutter?
Are their
any distractions such as animated graphics, pop-up ads or blinking
banners?Can you customize the search or display?
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RESULTS DISPLAY
All search engines return a list of
results it "thinks" are what you are looking for. How well does it "think
like you expect it to think?" The BEST way to compare
search engines is to try the same search on each one you are evaluating to
compare the quality and quantity of results.
