March 11, 2006

Search Hubs and Bounded Search

Matthew Hurst has just written an interesting post about Google's (lack of) GUI innovation, which suggests that:

Google doesn't own any other search interface innovations, so if they started using new ideas here, they would expose themselves to risk from every other search engine out there. There would be a feeding frenzy on the next UI brand. By keeping their interface simple, they force the competition to compete with their brand.

I think there's something to this, but I also think that users like the simple life. For example, Yahoo keeps coming out with interesting innovations that don't seem to get widely adopted. A case in point? I was intrigued by Y!Q Contextual Search when I first heard about it, installed the Y!Q Firefox toolbar extension etc. but do I use the functionality? Nahhhhhhh...it's easier just to use the search box on my browser toolbar. After all, that's where I usually go to search.

The area that has been particularly interesting me for a bit is bounded search - that is, search within a limited range of web pages or domains.

Take Rollyo.com for example, where you can essentially define a search roll of sites to search. It's the sort of thing Squidoo could offer too, or any of the other 'lensing' sites like H20 Playlists, but I don't think it/they does/do (see here for more).

In an attempt to clarify my thinking on this, I've started mulling over the phrase search hub (rather than searchroll for example) to see what it suggests to me (one of my favourite brainstorming techniques is to invent a neologism and then unpack it/see what it suggests or brings to mind).

So for example, in a variety of recent doodles, such as deliSearch, and Search Pagelinks, I've considered using a feed of delicious bookmarks, or the links on a page, as the set of resources over which a search should be applied (I guess search set or, recalling the above, search lens, could also be used instead of search hub?)

(Hmm - I'm also reminded of the popup linkset(?) script, (effect described here), and the searchLink code, both of which I really need to get working ptoperly, tidy up, sort out the styling etc., and make useable... )

What's the point? Well, I'm working on it. Over the coming weeks and months, I'll be doodling some elearning activities that make use of search hubs or whatever they end up being called, both faculty and student created - and posting related thoughts to the OUseful blog, of course - so if anybody out there is working on/using something similar, please email me.

Posted by ajh59 at March 11, 2006 05:37 PM
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