UCLA College Library: Quick Questions to Ask About Search Engines

Quick Questions to Ask About Search Engines

Question 1: How easy is it to get into the search engine?

Question 2: What is the default search?

Question 3: For what types of items can you search --e.g.,Web Pages, Usenet newsgroups postings, FAQ's, software, etc.?

Question 4: What search options are available --e.g., Boolean, exact matching, concept searching, truncation

Question 5: Is there a fee to search or to get complete results?

Question 6: What type of help is provided & how useful is it?

Question 7: How quickly does it provide results?

Question 8: What sort of results does the engine provide -- e.g., url,link, title, review, abstract, ranking by closest match.

Question 9: Can you modify the results of a search?

Question 10: How valuable are the results?

Created by Esther Grassian 5/2/96.
Permission is granted for unlimited non-commercial use of this guide.