Search services: analytical form

Header

General information

• URLs known:
• Number of documents indexed:

• Response time:
• Time outs:
• Image download time:

Harvesting

• Human
• Automatic
• User registration
• User deletable

• WWW:
• gopher:
• WAIS:
• ftp:
• telnet (OPACs):
• UseNet News:
• Listserv:
• IRC:
• Other databases (numeric, commercial):
• Multimedia products (images, movie, sounds):
• Other types:

Indexing

• Extracted information, fields indexed:
• Titles:
• Headings:
• Header information (included metainformation):
• File information (size, date)
• Links (URLs):
• The anchor text of links:
• Other HTML tags:
• Summary/excerpts (how generated):
• Full text:

• Human cataloguing and indexing:
• Human summary/abstract, excerpt, review:

Retrieval system:

• Boolean (exact match)
• Best match
• Combination
• Vector retrieval
• nonverbal (citation indexing)
• Other

• Natural language:
• Word list (no Boolean operators associated):
• Boolean query:
Boolean operators:
AND
OR
NOT
Nesting (parentheses supported)
Restrictions:
mixing of operators
number of search keys
• Proximity operators:
1. distance in number of words
2. distance in text structure
3. bound phrases
• Other:
• Ranking algorithm:
• ranking factors:
• calculation of scores:
• User weighted words:

 

 

Search terms:

• Truncation:
• Not supported
• Automatic
1. stemming algorithm (morfological)
2. add wildcard (mechanical)
3. left (mechanical)
4. right (mechanical)
• Manual
• left
• right
• internal
• What is the default and is it user changeable?
• String match features:
1. regular expressions
2. internal masking
3. case sensitive specify
4. others
• Any limits for a search term (character sets supported)
• Any limits for the size of a result set:

• Possibility to specify source types:
• System searches as default:
• URL:
• Title, headings:
• Keywords:
• Summary:
• Fulltext:
• cited URL, anchor text:
• others
• User selectable search fields:
• URL:
• Title, headings:
• keywords:
• Summary:
• Fulltext:
• cited URL, anchor text:
• others:
• Other search options:
• Stopword list
• Uses the system a stopword list?
• How is the stopword list constructed? (e.g. words exceeding a given absolut frequency are automatically put into the stopword list)
• Can the stopword list be sidestepped in a search? (e.g. in a phrase search)

• Concept search:
• Query expansion:
• Controlled Vocabulary, thesauri:
• Relevance feedback, find similar:
• Improve your search support or form:
• Navigation and graphical features:
• Other features:

• Result set information:
total
subsets
• Possible to choose number of displayed hits?:
• Is the number of hits displayed limited by the service?:
• What can be displayed:
• URL:
• Hotlink to original document:
• Title, headings:
• Keywords:
• Summary:
• Fulltext:
• cited URL, anchor text:
• Show hits in context:
• Highlight hits:
• document size:
• document last updated:
• document last visited:
• Pre-defined display formats:
• Other display options:

• Information about relevance scores:
Score displayed?:
Matching terms:
• Sorting:
URL-based:
others (size, number of links):
• Afterprocessing of the result by the service:
duplicate check:
link check:
• Other display options:

User interface

• General description of interface:
• Clarity of interface:
• Clarity of search page or index:
• Text-Only support:
• HTML Forms support:
• URL for Forms Search Page:
• Query input form:
• Optional forms for input:
• simple but limited:
• structured:
• free not limited:
• other supported:

 

 
 
 

• Non-Forms support:
• URL for Non-Forms Search Page:
• Adaptations to special browsers (Netscape, lynx):
• Online Help?
• URL for FAQ Page:
• URL for Help Page:
• Navigation Aids:
• Search Tutorials:
• Sample Searches:
• Server Load Indicators:
• What's New page:
• What's Popular page:

Documentation

• Manual:
• Literature:
• Reviews:

Our evaluation of the service

 Last update: 96-06-03