[Sigia-l] multiple search index usability/conceptual model

[Ziya Oz]

"jess at cognissa.com" wrote:

> I think that one search field with radio buttons to choose the search index
> used can work for a small number of options that are controlled by the same IT
> group (doesn't work for multiple licensed content like a library subscribes
> to, though)

I find the following works pretty well for all/most cases:

Search   |__________|  in  [Pop up]   (Go)

[Pop up] is the (hopefully) short list of all index/venue/database/etc that
can be searched by the current user. If the site is dynamic, this can be set
on-the-fly for each user. Up to two dozen elements in the list, which
roughly takes a screen-length to scroll (if needed), should cover a pretty
wide range of search domains. If you have more than that I'd re-consider the
problem to begin with.

I should also point out that the first element in that list ought to be
something like "Select..." or "Select domain..." or "Select search
engine..." etc. Unless there's one choice that users would normally select
by an overwhelming margin, in which case it might be more efficient to set
the visible/first item to that choice so that the user can just hit the
Enter/Return key to start the search.

Needless to say, you should have JavaScript bound to the (Go) button to
alert the user when no choice is made or an in appropriate choice is made
(by some pre-determined logic), etc. It's also not a good idea to skip the
(Go) button in lieu of a script that activates the search as soon as a user
changes the Pop up menu; this leads to inadvertent mistakes.

In any case, this search component is very compact, dynamically settable (by
user, page, site section, time, IP address, password/access level, cookies,
etc) and flexible enough to cover a large set of search domains (cf. screen
real-estate wasted by check boxes).

Best,

Ziya