Humboldt State University Library Search Engine Evaluation Sheet

Answer these questions for each search engine:

Search engine name:

1. URL:

2. Explore the help for this search engine. How easy is it to find? How "user friendly" is it? What do you especially like or dislike about the help?

   
   
   
   

3. Thnk of a subject you'd like to find information on, and perform a simple search (or equivalent) of this search engine. (To help you compare, you may want to try the same search in both engines you're evaluating for OWL 3.)

   Your subject:

   Search you entered:

   Evaluate your results. Check enough links to answer the questions below with confidence:

   If you didn't get any results, try to troubleshoot. Check spelling, punctuation, read help again. What do you think went wrong? What happens when you try again? If necessary, try a different subject.

   
   
   
   If you got results, are you satisfied with them? Are the links up to date? Are they useful? Are there any you'd like to return to again? Does the ranking work for you; are the best sties near the top of the results list? Any other comments you'd like to make about your results?

   
   
   
   

4. What is your overall impression of this search engine? What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Would you recommend it to other students?

   
   
   
   

5. Do you want to add anything else about this search engine or your search? Was response time OK? Anything else?

   
   
   
   Put your answer to this question on only one of the worksheets:

6. Which of the search engines do you like best? Why?