Searching like it’s 2009

If you subscribe to any of the EBSCO databases, then you’ve seen the banner: EBSCOhost 2.0 Coming July 2008! We knew that there would be a new interface, but I doubt many of us realized the level of change this would mean. While reality TV has exposed us to “extreme makeovers” in everyday life, EBSCO has now taken this concept into the world of research databases. Get ready for some extreme research this fall!

Grade 7–12

The Big Picture EBSCOhost 2.0 takes the intuitive search components that most online users have grown accustomed to and integrates them into a uniquely designed interface, bringing the familiarity of Internet searching to the library world. This is an interface that will be immediately familiar to most students who’ve grown up in the age of Google.

Michael Gorrell, EBSCO Publishing’s senior vice president and CIO, explains that “EBSCOhost 2.0...needed to reflect the sites that people know and that they feel comfortable working with.”

According to Gorrell, EBSCO surveyed individuals using all of the most popular Web sites, comparing how individuals behaved online. It asked people what sites they liked and what specific features were most popular. After collecting the data, EBSCO tested its findings through the use of Kent State’s ScanPath lab, where the eye tracking and screen usage of online users were recorded. EBSCO then went to local colleges and middle and high schools and conducted tests there. Finally, it turned to its Software Advisory Council and other advisory groups for suggestions and ideas. According to Gorrell, the company focused on maximizing the experience for users.

New features include mouse-over previews of article contents within the Results List; the ability to search for articles through single words, phrases, or even complete paragraphs; spell-check functions to help users redefine “did you mean…?” when search terms are misspelled; and the ability to bookmark results using both traditional and 2.0 programs such as Del.icio.us.

Other new features include a simpler Basic Search screen, a new detailed display of an article citation, enhanced personalization, a date slider for limiting searches, and new cite exporting features.

To learn more about EBSCOhost 2.0 and prepare for back-to-school staff development and instruction as well as locate training information, tutorials, webinar schedules, and help sheets, visit support.ebscohost.com/ebscohost2/training.php.

Look & Feel The new Basic Search screen is both clean and simple. Using many of the elements found on Internet search engines such as Google or Yahoo!, EBSCOhost 2.0 provides a simplified experience without limiting functionality. All of the regular features in the original EBSCO database are still available but in a new format.

Users can click on Search Options to choose among several modes, including the new SmartText Searching element, which produces complete results from partial information such as single words or even complete paragraphs. The Search Options link also allows users to view available limiters for refining search results.

By clicking the Advanced Search link, users will find the same advanced research tools that they are accustomed to, but again with a fresh new appearance.

The Visual Search provides users with a graphical perspective of their query through the use of either a block or column display style. An interactive map of clusters (terms) and articles are displayed, allowing users to quickly see related terms and articles. The Visual Search option groups results and condenses article records for immediate review on the right-hand side of the screen. Additionally, results can be filtered, grouped, and sorted by subject, publication, relevance, or date. Result maps that appear as small boxes can be maneuvered within the Results Navigation area, allowing users to cluster hits based upon their preferences. Finally, a unique “drag and drop” option allows users to select individual articles on the results page for placement in My Folder by merely moving items from the results area into the top right-hand box labeled Collect Articles.

The Preferences link allows users to control the look and feel of the EBSCOhost 2.0 Result List. Preferences can then be saved in the user’s My EBSCOhost folder.

A convenient Cite button at the top of every open record guides users through the bibliographic record export process. The newly designed Citation Format allows them to visually determine which style to use. Also included within the open record is a list of Related Records, which prevents users from clicking into another screen to find More Like This articles.

How It Works Through a completely new design, EBSCOhost 2.0 has simplified the search experience by bringing the interactive Web page to database content. Among some of the changes found within the search results is a magnifying glass icon beside each title that provides an instant preview of an article’s citation directly from the Result List. By hovering over a result, users can expand the citation without ever leaving the Result List. Thumbnail images in the List contain the graphic content of an article—click on the thumbnail and an instant view of the full-sized image appears.

Panels on either side of the Result List allow users to refine their search. On the left-hand side, users can select Source Type, Subject, Author, or Journal. On the right-hand side, they have access to a date-range slide bar, full-text limiters, scholarly or peer reviewed content choices, and other limiters.

A new search option called SmartText Searching allows users to move beyond keyword by pasting large amounts of text into the search box. The database analyzes the uniqueness of each word. A weight is applied to each word and a search is initiated using those weights as relevancy controls.

In addition to new search modes, EBSCOhost 2.0 offers a wealth of digital images that can be searched separately, adding value to the original search process and providing immediate access to digital media within the process. Digital images include snapshots of people, historical photos, natural science photos, maps, pics of places, and flags.

Other components that have been extended to provide a completely new search experience include the ability to bookmark articles using standard bookmarking techniques (such as adding the page link to My Favorites on a personal computer), as well as the ability to access over 20 different 2.0 bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Furl, StumbleUpon, and more.

Users can also save their research results to My Folder within the EBSCOhost site, which requires individuals to create their own user account within the database. This free option lets them save preferences, organize research within folders, share folders with others, view others’ folders, save and retrieve their search history, create email alerts or RSS feeds, and gain access to their saved searches from remote access sites.

Links for saving articles allow users to have immediate access to their research and bookmarking features allow users to quickly locate materials within their My Favorites folders (or other bookmark sites). Students can not only quickly access their research but also organize materials in locations that are familiar to them.

For Students and Teachers Students, teachers, and librarians will be blown away with the new research capabilities of EBSCOhost 2.0. Students will appreciate the clean design, the ability to modify and create preferences within the database, and the ease of access through bookmarking options. Saving and sending research results to various 2.0 sites, such as Facebook, will create a new level of access to research content while the Visual Search options will allow users to quickly understand the various search terms related to their query and then manipulate the results.

Teachers and librarians will be amazed at the ease of use, the ability to quickly locate resources through mouse-over options and sidebar panels, and the unique 2.0 features that will engage students. Teachers will appreciate the ability to utilize the SmartText search for locating articles using complete sentences or even paragraphs (a great option for those research assignments that need to be checked for missed citations… or possible plagiarized content). Librarians will appreciate the flexibility to integrate research sites where students feel more comfortable, while providing high-quality content.

Report Card EBSCO has not only completely redesigned its interface, it has taken database searching into the 21st century, creating a model certain to motivate change in future databases. Even though we’ve known it was coming since early spring, this database interface has certainly been worth the wait. For taking us beyond the walls of database dullness, EBSCOhost 2.0 receives an A+.