To Boolean search or not?
Recently, on a mailing list that I’m on, there has been intense discussion about the use of Boolean logic for searching. The discussion has been centred around Library catalogues, however it does have implications for other search sites as well.
With the plethora of search engines, search sites, and other ways of searching available, I’m curious to examine this topic in a larger context. Some questions in my mind are:
- Do users of our services use Boolean logic?
- If they don’t, why don’t they? Is it because its too hard? Is it because it’s not intuitive?
- Do people train their users in the use of Boolean logic?
- If Boolean logic is too hard for users, do our search services need to get smarter?
I’m interested in other peoples thoughts and opinions on this topic. You can either leave a comment, or email me directly. My email address is listed on my profile page.
Feed