[Search-l] Search results

[Grahame Gould]

My preference is very much that I be given options when I do a search.
If I searched for jazz I may want to know where I could listen, or I may
be looking for a definition or history.  Or who knows what.  And that's
just me - other users will have all sorts of ideas of what they mean.

That's a poor example, as I am a fairly experienced user and I usually
try more specific searches.  I am also used to trying multiple searches
to find what I'm looking for.

It seems to me that the simplest way, at least initially, is to provide
users with the choice.  Some may like to get involved in communities of
users who "think like they do", but me I'll stick with "try a search and
see what happens and try again".  It's nice to sometimes get distracted
by unexpected search results.

I'd like to see a search result give me a choice asking me what I mean
by my search.  Google does this in a limited way by offering alternate
spellings.  There was a project what was attempting to group pages by
theme so that one would get the choice of the fruit or the computer
(etc) when one searched for "apple".  I'd like to see a search engine
with the breadth and power of Google that offered a directory of
results.  I think Wikia has the opportunity to provide that.

Grahame Gould
Information Coordinator
Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley
Kununurra, WA, Australia
(08) 9168 4100 Phone
(08) 9168 1798 Fax
www.thelastfrontier.com.au