Mon. Nov. 17, 10:30 - 11:30
Create a custom search engine using Google Custom Search
Nicole Hennig + Darcy Duke
- learn to create a search engine that searches a set of web sites of
your own choosing: Google Custom Search
- brainstorming: ideas for custom search engines we could create
(CSE = Custom Search Engine)
--------------------------------------
Demo
1. Examples:
b. RealClimate
c. Computer Science curriculum search
d. MIT Libraries search, Google page for it: http://tinyurl.com/5vnf72
e. Nicole's test 1: Women's studies sites
f. Nicole's test 2: Progressive/alternative news
2. Selecting sites to include
- criteria for a useful search: hand-picked sites, weighted keywords
- discussion: what could make your custom search better than google.com?
Hands-on
1. setting up a Google account
Then use: My Account -- Custom Search -- My Search Engines
2. create a simple CSE using 2-3 sites of your own choosing.
If you need ideas of sites to combine, use some sites from DMOZ Open Directory Project , or Librarians' Internet Index or WSSLinks: Women & Gender Studies.
3. create an iGoogle custom page to store your search engines on
From your custom search home page: "add this search engine to your Google homepage"
4. options:
a. easily expand your list of sites:
"Dynamically extract links from this page and add them to
my search engine" & "Include all sites this page links to"
example: Women's Studies Sites
b. collaborating with others to improve your engine
Example: Librarian's E-Library ("volunteer to contribute")
CCA Libraries Art Search
To set yours up: My search engines/homepage/manage contributors
(your profile must be filled out first)
Demo -- more options
- look and feel: customize colors and logo:
examle: MIT LIbraries search
- instead of creating a list of sites, auto-grab all sites linked from a particular page:
Create a Custom Search Engine on the fly
example: a LibGuides page with a search box for all the sites linked from that page:
Nicole's test site
- using Google Marker to add more sites to an existing CSE
- using sites tagged in del.icio.us as a way to dynamically keep a list of sites to search:
example: Healthy vegan food (from Nicole's food bundled tags on del.icio.us)
- refinements (used to create facets), more on refinements
Nicole's test: TV on the web
Refinements for my TV sites: Episodes or Recaps
- weighting your search using keywords, more on keywords
- mapping synonyms
Further reading
- Google custom search API: getting started
- Featured examples: Google Picks
- Search for CSEs made by others: http://www.customsearchguide.com/
- Curating the Web: Building a Google Custom Search Engine for the Arts. Computers in Libraries, May 1, 2008. Cody Hennesy and John Bowman.
- Build a custom search engine using your social bookmarks - Sarah Perez, ReadWriteWeb
- Advanced features, see Google Custom Search API (developer's guide)
- Related projects: Reference Extract
article: Using crowdsourced librarians to outsmart Google
Brainstorming: ideas for custom search engines we could create
- faculty publications from pages on MIT web sites
- a subject-based search of faculty publications from various university web sites
- more ...
