Organizing Information in the Digital World Search result relevance in online library catalogs and Internet search engines by Kate E. Gukeisen
CC Image "Dibrary" courtesy of Mosman Library on Flickr
Originally written in 2011 for Dr. Jian Qin’s IST616 Information Organization and Access Syracuse University
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Library catalogs and Internet
Through this evaluation and
search engines, though organized
comparison, I will attempt to show
differently, are both subject to the
the success of each system in
same expectations by users that
delivering relevant results and to
they will yield quality results. For
demonstrate the different emphasis
many users, the perceived quality of
of each system as well as the ways
search results is directly related to
in which the systems complement
the relevance of those results to their
each other.
query (Lewandowski, 2009). Meeting
It is important to recognize
user expectations of relevance plays
that while online library catalogs and
a large role in the satisfaction of
Internet search engines may find
users with library catalog systems
themselves in competition now, they
and internet search engines, so it is
have evolved from different
important for librarians to consider
information needs. Library catalogs
ways in which to offer better search
developed as an information retrieval
experiences to their patrons. In this
system created to organize the
paper I will present, evaluate, and
information objects held by a library
compare search results from both
(Lewandowski, 2006). The
the New York Public Library System
advantages to library catalogs have
online catalog and the Internet
been long been their specificity,
search engine Bing for the work The
quality, and organization. The
Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
disadvantages to library catalogs
have been that they are limited to
library database currently are not,
resources owned by the library and
there is just not currently a way to
that they provide a linear search
classify this sheer volume of
experience, which is “useful only if
information for serendipitous
you already know exactly what you
retrieval. One potential tool libraries
want” (Parry, 2010, p. 55). Internet
could employ to leverage the
search engines developed to help
advantages of both information
people find information on the
retrieval systems is a “library search
Internet, which is home to a
engine” that assigns rank to user-
constantly changing, open
weighted criteria and searches both
“inventory” of information. This large
library-controlled resources and
and ever-changing collection of
remote sources (Lewandowski,
information defies classification.
2009).
Indeed, the biggest complaint
To illustrate the differences
regarding digitization of library
between the two information retrieval
collections is the loss of serendipity
systems, I will compare the first
in shelf browsing (Mann, 2005).
twenty results of a keyword search
Internet search engines are
for <the book thief> in the internet
developing to offer a multi-
search engine Bing with the first
dimensional search experience that
twenty results for the same keyword
makes related materials browsable
search in the New York Public
in the way that items on a library
Library System’s online catalog. I
shelf are, but that items in an online
approached this search from the
perspective of a library patron who
Taylor, Zhang, and Amadio:
had heard of the book and entered
matching of key words; accuracy;
the title into a key word search with
quality; credibility; and obtainability,
no more defined purpose than
or whether the result included
“wanting to look it up.” I assigned
information that would assist in
each search result a score for
locating a physical or digital
relevancy based on the following
manifestation of the work. The
criteria, which I adapted from the
following rubric illustrates the weight
2009 article Examination of
that was given to each consideration
relevance criteria choices and the
in this rating scheme:
information search process, by
Keyword Matching <The book thief> Accuracy Quality
Not Relevant
Somewhat Relevant
Relevant
0 Points No matching words. 0 Points The work is not a topic included in the results. 0 Points None or very little detail.
1 Point Some matching words. 1 Point The work is one of the topics of the results. 1-2 Points Contains some detail about the work.
2 Points Includes all words. 2 Points The work is the main topic of the results. 3-4 Points Contains specific detail relating to the work. 1 Point The information is cited or provided by a credible source.
Credibility
0 Points No indication this information can be trusted.
Obtainability
0 Points None.
Assessment: 0 Points-Not Relevant
The resultant data paints a picture that reflects commonly held
Assessment: 1-5 Points-Somewhat Relevant
1 Point Contains a link or instructions to locate a physical or digital manifestation of the work. Assessment: 6-10 Points-Relevant
conceptions about the strengths and weeknesses of each informaiton
 retrieval system. In general, the
internet search engine provided
results reflect that each information
results of a much wider variety and
retrieval system does what it is
scopeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including everything from
intended to do. The online library
book reviews and sales information
catalog search results include
to student book reports and blogs
information about particular
about the work. The following page
manifestations of The Book Thief
includes the results of the keyword
along with physical descriptions and
search in each information retrieval
holdings information regarding the
system and the relevancy rank
items of that work held by the library,
assigned to each result.
and the location of those items. The Order in Original Results 1
Bing Search Engine Results
New York Public Library Catalog Results
Relevancy Rank Assigned Wikipedia entry for the novel The Book Thief 9
Relevancy Rank Assigned Zusak, Markus. The book thief 10 1st Knopf trade pbk. ed. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2007 Zusak, Markus. The book thief [electronic resource] [New York, N.Y.] : Listening Library,2006 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_Thief
2
Amazon sales page for hardcover novel The Book Thief 10 http://www.amazon.com/Book-Thief-Markus-Zusak/dp/0375831002
3
Bing image results page for The Book Thief 5 http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+book+thief&qpvt=the+book+thief&FO RM=IGRE
4
Goodreads book review page for The Book Thief 10 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19063.The_Book_Thief
5
Publisher web site for the novel The Book Thief 10 http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/
6
Barnes & Noble sales page for The Book Thief 10 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-thief-markus-zusak/1100189892
7
Publisher sales page for the Book Thief 10 http://www.randomhouse.com/book/196153/the-book-thief-by-markus-zusak
8
9
The March 2006 New York Times book review Stealing to Settle a Score With Life by Janet Maslin for The Book Thief 8
Zusak, Markus. The book thief Large print ed. Waterville, Me. : Thorndike Press,2006 10 Zusak, Markus. The book thief New York : A. A. Knopf : Distributed by Random House,2006 10 Zusak, Markus. The book thief [sound recording] New York : Random House,2006 10 Zusak, Markus. The book thief [electronic resource] New York : Alfred A. Knopf,2005 10 The Author of Roger turn'd book-thief; or, The history of a pilferer, considered [electronic resourc Cork : [s.n.],1752 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/books/27masl.html
Zusak, Markus. Book thief. Chinese Tou shu zei = The book thief Di 1 ban. Haikou Shi : Nan hai chu ban she,2007 10
Schmoop literature review for students for The Book Thief 9
Rey Rosa, Rodrigo, 1958- Severina 1a ed. Madrid : Alfaguara,2011
http://www.shmoop.com/book-thief/
10
Reading Group Guide for The Book Thief 9 http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_B/book_thief1.asp
11
UK Publishers website for The Book Thief 9 http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/thebookthief/
12
Bing Shopping Results for The Book Thief (with results for numerous other titles that included similar keywords 7 http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?q=the+book+thief&qpvt=the+book+thief&F ORM=HURE
13
Reading Group Guide for The Book Thief (13, also the same result as 10) 9 http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_B/book_thief1.asp
14
The May 2006 New York Times book 8 review Fighting for their lives by John Green for The Book Thief
1 Bartlett, Allison Hoover. The man who loved books too much : the true story of a thief, a detective, and a world of literary o Large print ed. Detroit, Mi. : Gale Cengage Learning,2010 2 Zusak, Markus. Book thief. SpanishLa ladrona de libros 1. ed. Vintage Español. Nueva York : Vintage Español,2010 10 Bartlett, Allison Hoover. The man who loved books too much [electronic resource] : the true story of a thief, a detective, and New York : Riverhead Books,2009 2 Bartlett, Allison Hoover. The man who loved books too much : the true story of a thief, a detective, and a world of literary o New York : Riverhead Books,2009 2 Kaufman, Charlie. Adaptation : the shooting script 1st ed. New York : Newmarket Press,2002 1
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/books/review/14greenj.html
15
Australian Book Review by Peter Pierce, September 2005 8 http://www.theage.com.au/news/reviews/the-bookthief/2005/09/08/1125772645161.html
16
Blog about the novel The Book Thief 8 http://bookthieffall10.blogspot.com/
17
About.com review of The Book Thief in Classic Literature 9 http://classiclit.about.com/od/dyingdeath/fr/aafpr_bookthief.htm
18
Parent guide, reviews and ratings for The Book Thief 7 http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/book-thief
19
LibraryThing page for The Book Thief 10 http://www.librarything.com/work/393681
20
About.com The Book Thief in Contemporary Literature 9 http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/historicalfictionreviews/fr/theBookThief.htm
The differences in search
Kaufman, Charlie, 1958- Adaptation : the shooting script 1st ed, New York : Newmarket Press,2002 1 Rózsa, Miklós, 1907- Thief of Bagdad. Selections 2 The thief of Bagdad [sound recording] ; The jungle book : original motion picture scores Nürnberg, West Germany : Colosseum, 1990 Nelson, Jack, b. 1892. Love thief. Vocal score The love thief : a musical comedy Chicago : University Producers,1920 2 Give me a Texas outlaw [electronic resource] New York : Kensington Pub. Corp.,2011 1 Hirshfield, Jane, 195310 Come, thief : poems 1st ed. , New York : Alfred A. Knopf,2011 First thrills : high-octane stories from the hottest thriller authors 1st mass market ed. New York : Forge, 1 2011 1
query. While both systems reflected
results exemplify the importance of
levels of detail that were similar, the
developing a system or partnership
type of detail offered differed greatly.
that provides patrons the ability to
The online library catalog results
utilize relevancy criteria in order to
about the work The Book Thief
achieve the best results for their
contained specific information about
particular items. The internet search
“better” would lie with the user and
results varied greatly in terms of the
whether their intention was to obtain
information they provided, but all
a copy of the work or to learn more
were relevent to the work. The online
about the conversation surrounding
library catalog results either earned
the work.
quite high scores for relevency or
Online library catalogs would
quite low, while the internet search
benefit from tapping into the
engine results all scored high in
multidimensional connections of
terms of relevancy. One reason for
internet search engines and internet
this may be that once all of the items
search engines would benefit from
titled The Book Thief were used in
adopting library catalog classification
the search results, the library catalog
techniques. Whether the advantages
did not have the connectivity to
of the two systems can ultimately be
“reach across” its own classification
combined into one system for library
system to find similar items or items
users remains to be seen. At the
by the same author without being
very least, librarians should focus on
specifically directed to do so by the
helping patrons develop the
user. The quality and credibility of
information literacy skills they need
information was consistent in the
to navigate both systems in a
library catalog and inconsistent in the
complementary fashion to ensure
search results. The final
unimpeded access to quality
determination for which method is
information and user satisfaction.
References
Lewandowski, D. (2009). Ranking library materials. Library Hi Tech, 27 (4), 584-593. Retrieved December 3, 2011 from the EBSCO database. doi: 10.1108/07378830911007682
Mann, T. (2005). Google print vs. onsite collections: Don’t send your paper copies off to remote storage just yet. American Libraries, 75 (7), 45-6. Retrieved December 6, 2011from http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/resources/slctdarticles/googlevsonsite.pdf
Parry, M. (2010). After losing users in catalogs, libraries find better search software. Education Digest, 75 (6), 54-7. Retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://chronicle.com/article/After-Losing-Users-in/48588/
Taylor, A., Zhang, X., & Amadio, W. J. (2009). Examination of relevance criteria choices and the information search process. Journal of Documentation, 65 (5), 719 – 744. Retrieved December 4, 2011 from the EBSCO database. doi: 10.1108/00220410910983083: