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Search Engine Queries Used to Locate Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Differences for Local and Non-Local Users


Metadata FieldValueLanguage
dc.coverage.temporal2013en_US
dc.creatorCoates, Midge
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-15T18:23:14Z
dc.date.available2015-01-15T18:23:14Z
dc.date.created2014-11-17
dc.date.issued2015-01-15
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LHT-02-2014-0022en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11200/48472
dc.description.abstractThis study examines two research questions: (1) What search engine queries lead users to the Auburn University Electronic Theses and Dissertations (AUETDs) collection? (2) Do these queries vary for users in different locations and, if so, how? Search engine queries used to locate the AUETDs collection were obtained from Google Analytics and were separated into groups based on user location. These queries were assigned to empirically-derived categories based on their content. Most local users' queries contained person names, variants for thesis or dissertation, and variants for Auburn University. Over a third were queries for the AUETDs collection, while the remainder were seeking theses and/or dissertations from specific Auburn researchers. Most out-of-state users' queries contained title and subject keywords and appeared to be seeking specific research studies. Queries from users located within the state but outside of the local area were intermediate between these two groups. Over two-thirds of visits to the AUETDs collection were made by search engine users which reinforces the importance of having repository content indexed by search engines such as Google. The specificity of their queries indicates that full-text indexing will be more helpful to users than metadata indexing alone. This is the first detailed analysis of search engine queries used to locate an ETDs collection. It may also be the last, as query content for the major search engines is no longer available from Google Analytics.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.format.extent22 pagesen_US
dc.publisherEmerald Group Publishing Limiteden_US
dc.relation.ispartofLibrary Hi Techen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries0737-8831en_US
dc.rightsThis article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here: aurora.auburn.edu. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.en_US
dc.subjectthesesen_US
dc.subjectdissertationsen_US
dc.subjectWeb metricsen_US
dc.subjectuse statisticsen_US
dc.subjectuser studiesen_US
dc.subjectdigital librariesen_US
dc.subjectsearch queriesen_US
dc.titleSearch Engine Queries Used to Locate Electronic Theses and Dissertations: Differences for Local and Non-Local Usersen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume32en_US
dc.citation.issue4en_US
dc.citation.spage667en_US
dc.citation.epage686en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US
dc.creator.alternateCoates, Mildred

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