This is a very clever idea. I would think this could be done with a plugin, where the browser would automatically do a separate search into the tool you made, and a popup could appear. I don't think you would need any permissions from anyone--when people install the plugin, you would be taking the information from the browser, not from Google, and I could imagine that a agreement to do this could be taken for granted upon installation. If people decide they don't like it, they can always disable it.
You may be interested in my own version of the "Research Guides". Since I have very few staff, it is highly difficult for me to create these guides and keep them current. Therefore, I decided on a different route. I collected specific ones here on my Library Wiki: http://aurlibrary.wetpaint.com/page/Research+Guides but then I got an idea for a "Do-It-Yourself Research Guide Finder" at http://www.galileo.aur.it/opac-tmpl/npl/en/pages/diyfinder.html which lets you search Google for more specific research guides. All it does it take their search and add a more specific search to it. (I find I always have to "tweak" the query for better results, by the way) You can also get this to work with my plugin by choosing "Synonyms/Conceptual Tools" but that only hides the research guide finder!
Hmmmm....
Jim
James Weinheimer j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu
Director of Library and Information Services
The American University of Rome
via Pietro Roselli, 4
00153 Rome, Italy
voice- 011 39 06 58330919 ext. 258
fax-011 39 06 58330992
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Cindy Harper
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 10:12 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [NGC4LIB] When everyone starts with Google - follow-on to Jim Weinheimer Extend Search posting
I also have a little project I've been thinking about for a while now
involving a browser plug-in. It would try to intercept searches sent to
Google, and give a pop-up with info on possible library resources. It's
still in development, but what I envision is to capture Google searches in
our public labs and send them to this application, that uses the library
catalog as a keyword index that leads to the appropriate subject guides. We
don't have indexed LibGuides, so this would serve in that role, plus it
would possibly translate more granular search phrases into the more general
topic areas that our subject guides cover. Or at least it offers a pop-up
that advertises the materials the library pays for.
What it does is: a keyword search on the search phrase in the library
catalog;
sorts the call-number ranges of the results from
that search;
consults a mapping of call-number ranges to subject
guides;
presents the user with those possible subject guide
links.
The problems now:
- It's based on III's Z39.50 server, which appears to have a big flaw
(that III says is corrected in the next release which we will load in
June).
- It takes a while to retrieve and process the Z39.50 results
- it's ASP .NET VB - I don't think that's a problem, but I need to
learn/convert to AJAX to simplify the processing of the responses to the
survey at the end.
- will I even get approval to collect the info on users' Google searches
for this experimental use?
- oh, yes, I have a little CSS problem I haven't fixed yet.
But you can try it and see what you think:
http://lisv06.colgate.edu/aftergoogle/default.aspx?searchargs=mathematics+assessment
Cindy Harper, Systems Librarian
Colgate University Libraries
charper_at_colgate.edu
315-228-7363
Received on Tue May 25 2010 - 03:48:47 EDT