Download Search Facilities For Your Web Site

briefing-08
briefing-08
Search Facilities
For Your Web Site
Search Facilities
For Your Web Site
A QA Focus Document
A QA Focus Document
Background
Background
Web sites which contain more than a handful of pages should provide a search facility.
This is important for several reasons:
Web sites which contain more than a handful of pages should provide a search facility.
This is important for several reasons:
 End users will not be aware of the size of your Web site, and so will wish to use
a search tool to explore it.
 End users will not be aware of the size of your Web site, and so will wish to use
a search tool to explore it.
 End users will not necessary understand the browse structure of your Web site.
 End users will not necessary understand the browse structure of your Web site.
 Search engines are one of the most widely used tools by end users.
 Search engines are one of the most widely used tools by end users.
However there are resource implications in maintaining link integrity.
However there are resource implications in maintaining link integrity.
Approaches To Providing Search Facilities
Approaches To Providing Search Facilities
The two main approaches to the provision of search engines on a Web site are to host a
search engine locally or to make use of an externally-hosted search engine.
The two main approaches to the provision of search engines on a Web site are to host a
search engine locally or to make use of an externally-hosted search engine.
Local Search Engine
Local Search Engine
The traditional approach is to install search engine software locally. The software may
be open source (such as ht://Dig [1]) or licensed software (such as Inktomi [2]). It
should be noted that the search engine software does not have to be installed on the
same system as the Web server. This means that you are not constrained to using the
same operating system environment for your search engine as your Web server.
The traditional approach is to install search engine software locally. The software may
be open source (such as ht://Dig [1]) or licensed software (such as Inktomi [2]). It
should be noted that the search engine software does not have to be installed on the
same system as the Web server. This means that you are not constrained to using the
same operating system environment for your search engine as your Web server.
Because the search engine software can hosted separately from the main Web server it
may be possible to make use of an exitsing search engine service within the organisation
which can be extended to index a new Web site.
Because the search engine software can hosted separately from the main Web server it
may be possible to make use of an exitsing search engine service within the organisation
which can be extended to index a new Web site.
Externally-Hosted Search Engine
Externally-Hosted Search Engine
An alternative approach is to allow a third party to index your Web site. There are a
number of companies which provide such services. Some of these services are free: they
may be funded by advertising revenue. Such services include Google [3], Atomz [4]
and FreeFind [5].
An alternative approach is to allow a third party to index your Web site. There are a
number of companies which provide such services. Some of these services are free: they
may be funded by advertising revenue. Such services include Google [3], Atomz [4]
and FreeFind [5].
Produced by QA Focus – supporting JISC’s digital library programmes
Produced by QA Focus – supporting JISC’s digital library programmes
Dec 2004
Dec 2004
Pros And Cons
Pros And Cons
Using a locally-installed search engine gives you control over the software. You can
control the resources to be indexed and those to be excluded, the indexing frequency,
the user interface, etc. However such control may have a price: you may need to have
technical expertise in order to install, configure and maintain the software.
Using a locally-installed search engine gives you control over the software. You can
control the resources to be indexed and those to be excluded, the indexing frequency,
the user interface, etc. However such control may have a price: you may need to have
technical expertise in order to install, configure and maintain the software.
Using a externally-hosted search engine can remove the need for technical expertise:
installing an externally-hosted search engine typicallyrequires simply completing a Web
form and then adding some HTML code to your Web site. However this ease-of-use has
its disadvantages: typically you will lose the control over the resources to be indexed,
the indexing frequency, the user interfaces, etc. In addition there is the dependency on a
third party, and the danges of a loss of service if the organisation changes its usage
conditions, goes out of business, etc.
Using a externally-hosted search engine can remove the need for technical expertise:
installing an externally-hosted search engine typicallyrequires simply completing a Web
form and then adding some HTML code to your Web site. However this ease-of-use has
its disadvantages: typically you will lose the control over the resources to be indexed,
the indexing frequency, the user interfaces, etc. In addition there is the dependency on a
third party, and the danges of a loss of service if the organisation changes its usage
conditions, goes out of business, etc.
Trends
Trends
Surveys of search facilities used on UK University Web sites have been carried out
since 1998 [6]. This provides information not only on the search engines tools used, but
also to spot trends.
Surveys of search facilities used on UK University Web sites have been carried out
since 1998 [6]. This provides information not only on the search engines tools used, but
also to spot trends.
Since the surveys began the most widely used tool has been ht://Dig – an open source
product. In recent years the licensed product Inktomi has shown a growth in usage.
Interestingly, use of home-grown software and specialist products has decreased search engine software appears now to be a commodity product.
Since the surveys began the most widely used tool has been ht://Dig – an open source
product. In recent years the licensed product Inktomi has shown a growth in usage.
Interestingly, use of home-grown software and specialist products has decreased search engine software appears now to be a commodity product.
Another interesting trend appears to be in the provision of two search facilities; a
locally-hosted search engine and a remote one – e.g. see the University of Lancaster [7].
Another interesting trend appears to be in the provision of two search facilities; a
locally-hosted search engine and a remote one – e.g. see the University of Lancaster [7].
References
References
1 ht://Dig, <http://www.htdig.org/>
1 ht://Dig, <http://www.htdig.org/>
2 Inktomi, <http://www.inktomi.com/>
2 Inktomi, <http://www.inktomi.com/>
3 Google, <http://services.google.com/googleuniv/login>
3 Google, <http://services.google.com/googleuniv/login>
4 Atomz, <http://www.atomz.com/>
4 Atomz, <http://www.atomz.com/>
5 FreeFind <http://www.freefind.com/>
5 FreeFind <http://www.freefind.com/>
6 Surveys of Search Engines on UK University Web Sites,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/surveys/uk-he-search-engines/>
6 Surveys of Search Engines on UK University Web Sites,
<http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/surveys/uk-he-search-engines/>
7 University of Lancaster Search Page,
<http://www.lancs.ac.uk/search.htm>
7 University of Lancaster Search Page,
<http://www.lancs.ac.uk/search.htm>
For further information on QA Focus see <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/>
For further information on QA Focus see <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/>