Hello everyone,
(Apologies if this has been covered already and if it's too tangential.) Some of the previous Amazon discussions depend on what is meant by the phrase "searching Amazon". There are a number of different searches that you can carry out in Amazon. I'd like to ask, is it fair to compare a library PACs search capabilities with the main Amazon search box?
This may be a small point, but I see the main search box at www.amazon.com as meta-search box. It's searching books, CDs, DVDs, shoes, jewelry, toasters, steaks, pet strollers, and lord knows what else. I tend to compare the Amazon main search box with the search capabilities of federated search engines, maybe something like WebFeat or MetaLib - although Amazon searches much larger, heterogeneous collections. (Actually, I'd be interested in seeing what a WebFeat or MetaLib could do with all of the various and sundry items contained in Amazon, but that's another discussion.)
I can go to search Amazon's book catalog, which appears as Books on the left side of their main page then go to their Advanced Search for Books or go to it directly here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ats-query-page/ref=b_tn_bh_bo/103-9803230-6730250
Even this is a collection of catalogs with various levels of description (cataloging) - some items with author and title only, others with more complete descriptions. I compare this to a union catalog - in this case, it's a number of merchants sharing the Amazon space to sell used books in addition to Amazon's new books. (I have not used Amazon's Power Search yet.)
As a side note: I think most patrons appreciate the ease of the single line text box. I think that's why Amazon defaults to the single text box rather than putting their Advanced Search right on the main search entry page for books. I also think that's why Google defaults to their one-line text box instead of their Advanced Search at:http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
Regards,
Steve
>>> mgrenci_at_UOREGON.EDU 6/13/2006 12:58 PM >>>
On Mon, 12 Jun 2006, Emily Lynema wrote:
> What does Amazon do well? It provides relevance ranking for un-fielded
> keyword searching.
Amazon certainly tries to do this but I wouldn't say it does it well. At
least not in my experience. I've done a lot of Amazon searching in the
last month. If I'm looking for a specific book by a specific author and I
put all the relevant keywords in the search box, it usually--but not
always--shows up first or pretty high in the list. Sometimes I have to
page through several screens before I get to it, though. This is
especially true if I forget to use quotes.
If, on the other hand, I'm looking for anything from a particular author
(my more usual search since I'm looking for new stuff to read) I get a
mess. Yes, I'm sure all the things in the system by that author are
*somewhere* in the numerous pages, but they're certainly not in a
logical order. They're interspersed among other things that must
have been pulled up for some reason, although I can't always tell
why. Again, this is more true if I forget to use quotes, but it's
generally a mess even if I remember. The sort options are also less than
helpful.
I'm one of the millions who uses Amazon.com and Google and I keep going
back. Some would say that means I'm one of the 80% who's happy with the
interfaces. I'm most definitely not. So why do I keep going back?
Google's no better or worse than any other large search engine I've tried
and they seem to index more of the things I'm interested in. I haven't
found a large search engine that does a better job. Doesn't mean Goggle
does well, only that there's no real competition. End of story.
Amazon is a "big name" and the one I remember when it comes time to look
for books to buy (yes, I'm a buyer not a borrower, librarian though I
am). They tend to have something I want more often than bookstore sites
because I generally want out-of-print books by dead and gone mystery or
other genre fiction authors. So I go to them for the content and live with
the interface because I have to.
Does that mean libraries should "go google" or "go amazon?" I think not.
The majority of people who use these sites do so because the companies
have marketed themselves well and the names are remembered--not because of
the fantastically wonderful interface and search results.
Mary
Mary Grenci
University of Oregon Libraries
mgrenci_at_uoregon.edu
Received on Wed Jun 14 2006 - 08:03:22 EDT