Searching the ALA Web Site

http://discuss.ala.org/marginalia/2008/10/31/why-did-they-search-that-i-wonder/

Karen writes:

When the ALA website went live last month, it did so with an added feature: the custom Search Engine Results Page. There are three parts to this, “key matches,” the usual kind of search results, and some ranked results from “big” Google. I had the task of building the initial set of key matches in the final hours before we went live, when most of the pages would be in their intended places. Since then, there have been changes, and some topics really do need key matches. Time for a tune-up.

So, we ran a report of the top 100 queries used on the site. Most are no surprise. Both banned books and banned book (oh, wouldn’t it be nice if there were just one!); library bill of rights and bill of rights; andcensorshipcopyrightcollection development, and standards. But why would over 2,000 people search “google” on the ALA site?

Whatever. There isn’t a single good page to route someone to, so I’ll just fill in the gaps, make some key matches for the pages that seem to elude people, and fill in all the permutations for the Newbery Medal while I’m at it.

The report also provides the top 100 keywords used. 13% of the searches included the word books, but only 5% included library.