Web Search Engines and Online DatabasesSolving the User Query“Causes and spread of the Ebola virus and Precautions one should take.”

Information Access and Retrieval

What is the True information need?

The Query

The Information Need

The basis of much of the interaction between librarians and information users begins with questions that require answers. In this case the question the parent is asking is an assessment of Ebola virus and the risk that it imposes to her family.

• Current events and national media attention on Ebola • User has no medical background• General understanding of the virus• History of the virus• Accurate assessment of the virus as a real threat

Search #1

The first was just a general search of the word Ebola.

Out of the first ten results, seven were viewed as relevant to my patron’s information need

• precision ratio of 0.7 • governmental sources• international sources• good reputation

Search #2

Search performed with Boolean Logic: Ebola AND prevention.

Out of the first ten results, six were viewed as relevant to my patron’s information need

• precision ratio of 0.6 • some repeat hits• good reputation

Search #3

Search performed a search with Boolean Logic: Ebola AND prevention AND transmission.

Out of the first ten results, six were viewed as relevant to my patron’s information need

• precision ratio of 0.6 • new article about transmission

Search Engine Results

Search Engine ResultsSearch #4For the fourth and final search, I performed a search with Boolean Logic: Ebola AND children. Out of the first ten results, two were viewed as relevant to my patron’s information need, giving this search a precision ratio of 0.2.

All searches provided useful information

Search parameters and relevancy

(3) Searches yielded high precision

Search with “children” altered results

Google Web Search Break Down

Search engine provided quality resultsSearches provided patron useful info

Search #1

Broad search of just the word Ebola.

I determined that three were pertinent to the user’s query

• precision ratio of 0.15 • 1,471 retrieved results• results were relevant• 17/20 not query relevant

Search #2

I chose the keyword Children, which produced eight results.

The two results which I deemed relevant gave an overview of Ebola

• precision ratio of 0.25 • 6 results not relevant

Search #3

Search performed a search with Boolean Logic: Ebola AND transmission AND prevention

Out of the first twenty results, six were viewed as relevant to my patron’s information need

• precision ratio of 0.3 • 106 results

Database Results

Database ResultsSearch #3Previous searches produced lower precision. Results in the previous searches were relevant, just not pertinent to the patron’s query. The final search, with the highest precision, was the only search to produce results completely not relevant to the query.

All searches provided useful informationSearches took about twenty minutesKeywords: transmission and prevention

Resources met the patron’s need

MedlinePlus Database Break Down

Medline provided mostly quality results

No results hyperbolized risk or danger

Web Search Engine versus the Online Database

• Google Search and the Medline database returned relevant results to satisfy the user query

• Medline results were relevant to the general topic more often than user query

• Examples of not relevancy in Medline: Animal Ebola and Transmission in Africa

• Google search ads and news articles could sensationalize issue

• In Medline, no results hyperbolized the risk or misled the reader of the dangers of Ebola

• Search engine yielded higher precision relevant to query

Questions?