Library & Literary Miscellany

Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher (2007)

“And what about you–the rest of you–did you notice the scars you left behind?…No. Probably not…Because most of them you can’t see with the naked eye.”

Clay Jensen, living, and Hannah Baker, recently deceased, narrate Th1rteen R3asons Why. When Clay receives a shoebox-sized package in the mail he opens it to find seven audiotapes. He soon discovers that these audiotapes contain a final message from Hannah Baker narrating the story of why her life ended. She states, “And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why.”

Hannah set the ground rules for her listeners: “The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Rule number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you.” She also made a second set of tapes which she tells the listeners will be released if they fail to pass the tapes on.

The novel interpolates Hannah taped narration and Clay’s experiences as he listens to it. The two are clearly delineated as Hannah’s narration is italicized and Clay’s thoughts and conversations with other people are in normal font. Hannah also left behind a map that corresponds with the tapes, marking some of the places where the events in her story occurred. Clay follows along with the tapes and journeys to the places marked on the map all in one night as he desperately seeks to understand why he is one of Hannah’s reasons why.

Before her death Hannah made connections–she connected the people and experiences that indelibly marked her life and her reputation with their selfishness, cruelty, voyeurism, ignorance, ineptitude and the like until she began expecting all people to let her down. While Hannah remains ultimately responsible for her decision to commit suicide, thirteen such experiences (as well as indubitably many more that were unconnected and did not make the tapes) helped create her feelings of hopelessness and isolation.

Clay’s a “good” guy with a “good” reputation, and he’s baffled over his inclusion in Hannah’s list of reasons why. While he finds the tapes painful to listen to, listen he does in order to uncover the reason. As Hannah’s thirteen reasons are revealed, Clay experiences unprecedented feelings of anger and loathing for his fellow classmates.

By telling her story, Hannah relates to Clay that “All you really have…is now” when it comes to helping those who are hurting. It becomes clear to him that what’s done has been done; future chances are by no means guaranteed. Clay resolves to be more aware of opportunities to reach out to people he senses are struggling.

Th1rteen R3asons Why endeavors to tap into the human capacity for empathy and to engage us all in considering the influence we have on others’ perceptions of the world and overall mental health. Jay Asher is a member of the Class of 2k7, and Th1rteen R3asons Why is his debut novel. A few other works of young adult fiction that discuss adolescent suicide include Trigger by Susan Vaught, Pitch Black: Color Me Lost by Melody Carlson (Christian fiction), Shooter by Walter Dean Myers, After the death of Anna Gonzales by Terri Fields (Poems), and Tribes by Arthur Slade.

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Poignant, compelling, intriguing, eschew, craft, muse, and lyrical are all showcased in Bob Harris’ article Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing over at the New York Times Papercuts Blog (I admit to being guilty of using some of these words…). Readers add many more “deadly words” suggestions in the comments. Speaking of Papercuts, another amusing post this week is Rachel Donadio’s Literary Dealbreaker. She writes about the relationship between reading habits and dating habits (again, don’t miss out on the comments).

On a different track entirely, Wired Magazine just posted Top 10 April Fools’ Pranks for Nerds compiled from readers submissions to the previous year’s April Fools Widget. The Top 10 list contains suggestions such as remapping a co-workers keyboard, changing the language settings in Google, and installing the Blue Screen of Death Screensaver.

And on a track that actually relates to children’s literature, the Washington Post article Question for the Ages: What Books When? provides a look into reading choice, or lack therof for kids these days. From the article:

Some educators and authors say they believe the emphasis on standardized tests in the No Child Left Behind education law has made teachers less willing to experiment with new or unusual books. “Kids are getting less and less choice, and it’s sad,” said author Jon Scieszka, the U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Anybody else run across any interesting articles this week, or have thoughts on the above?

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What is Adobe Photoshop Express Beta? In brief, it’s a Web-based image solution for basic editing (touch-ups such as spot healing), sharing, and storing photos (2 gigabytes of storage no less!). While Express is by no means the full-featured, expensive Photoshop we all know (and love?), it does offer some alluring features such as tie-ins with Picasa, Facebook, and MySpace, and it is free. Adobe’s John Nack writes that it “Will remain free, with paid service adding more functionality.”

Find out more at Adobe Photoshop Express Support Center or read one of the following articles. Some of these articles contain comparisons and/or caveats about Express, such as WebWare’s wariness of the Terms of Service:

C-Net: Adobe Opens Shop on Web-based Photoshop Express

John Nack on Adobe: Photoshop Express RIA arrives!

Macworld: Adobe unveils Photoshop Express

Mashable: Adobe Photoshop Express - Good, But not Perfect

ReadWriteWeb: Watch Out - Adobe is Slowly Building an Online Empire

Terry White: Photoshop Online? Photoshop Express Beta - Now Online!

Webware: Review-Adobe Photoshop Express

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Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (2007)

“I will be honest with you. I have no wisdom, none at all. The truest thing I can tell you is that whatever we have between us is all we’ve got. Oh, and of course Mr. Dickens.”

So begins Mr. Watts (Pop Eye) in his not-so confidence-instilling speech to the children at the inception of his informal, short-lived teaching career. Showing he does actually possess wisdom to some degree, Mr. Watts also tells the children “I want this to be a place of light…No matter what happens.” Mr. Watts is the sole remaining white man on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea throughout the dark times of the 1990s civil war.

In Mister Pip, Matilda narrates her story of going to school and learning about life and literature even as death and violence circles her village. As Matilda notes, school with Mr. Watts is different. “This was school, but not how I remembered it. Perhaps that’s why everything felt strange, as if we were trying to squeeze into an old life that didn’t exist anymore, at least not in the way we remembered.” Through Mr. Watts’ teaching methods, the children learn to navigate the new circumstances of their lives. A large piece of Mr. Watts teaching centers around helping the children discover new and personal connections with Mr. Dickens’ Great Expectations from which Mr. Watts reads one chapter every day.

To supplement Great Expectations and the other gaps in Mr. Watt’s knowledge (what is chemistry the study of again?), he invites the children’s parents into the classroom so that they can share their own particular knowledge. Out of these occasions the children come away with new insight into topics such as the color blue, faith, the devil, octopus slaughtering and turtle cooking techniques, sex, and weather forecasting (”Trust crabs above all others”). But it is the reading of Great Expectations that provides the classroom anchor and the daily haven even as the village is surrounded by both government and rebel troops.

As Pip and his story become more important and intertwined with the children’s stories, the parents become increasingly uneasy. Matilda’s mother, Dolores, in particular, feels that Great Expectations has no relevance to the children’s lives. For Dolores, her Bible is the only worthy book: “Faith is like oxygen. It keeps you afloat at all times,” and she worries that her daughter’s interest in Pip may lead her to disregard her ancestry and the teachings of the Good Book. Dolores begins to see Mr. Watts as her enemy and rival.

All of this unrest over Great Expectations leads to the only copy of the book disappearing, but by that time, the children know the story so well that they re-create Pip’s story from their memories and their imaginations. Mr. Watts teaches the children that they each have a unique voice and he encourages them to use it, “Your special gift that no one can ever take from you.”

Dolores’ insecurities about the book and about Matilda’s connections to it lead her to tell Matilda to record her ancestors’ names on the beach. Dolores hopes that this action will force Matilda to remember and revere her ancestors like she remembers the book. But Matilda feels more connected to Pip, and she ends up with “Pip” inscribed into the sand on the beach. When the redskins (government soldiers) see “Pip” written in the sand and when they keep hearing his name, they decide that Pip must be a rebel spy. They demand that he turn himself in.

The redskins issue ultimatums to the villagers that they procure Pip or else. Without the book and without a Pip to bring forth, Mr. Watts declares himself to be Pip, and he begins a multi-evening storytelling event in which the tale he tells is partly Pip’s, partly the islanders’, and partly his own as soldiers and villagers alike listen on. All do not live happily ever after, however, as this is war and the redskins and the rebels trust no one and treat others’ with wartime brutality.

Mister Pip stands as a profound post-colonial work commenting on story construction and the power of story, the atrocities of war, and the vicissitudes of human morality. Mister Pip has been recognized as such, making the short list for the Man Booker Prize and winning the Commonwealth Prize and the Alex Award (click here for more Alex Award Winners: adult books with special appeal for young adults).

Takeaway Quotes:

“A gentleman is a man who never forgets his manners, no matter the situation. No matter how awful, or how difficult the situation…A gentleman will always do the right thing.”

“…to be human is to be moral, and you cannot have a day off when it suits”

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What do research database providers such as EBSCOhost and JSTOR as research database providers, Overdrive as a digital media service company, and Koha as an open source ILS have to do with each other? They all have some news worthy of mention, so I thought I’d mention it.

EBSCOhost and JSTOR: Interface Changes

The following are just a few of the highlights of the interface changes and/or enhancements (complete with links to find out more):

EBSCOhost 2.0

General Layout

Simple Search: Simplified search screen (patrons can display additional search options if desired such as the new “smart search”)

Collapsible panes: Collapse left and right hand panes to hide or show options (much like the way you can collapse panes in EBSCOhost’s visual search currently)

Relevancy Ranking: Improved relevancy ranking—sort results by relevancy or by date (level of relevance is graphically displayed using green squares)

Left column Features: The left-hand column enables faceted browsing through results (narrow results by source type, subject, author, or journal); this is much like is available on Worldcat.org currently.

Right column Features: The right-hand column includes limits, related articles, and related images. Limiters include the new date slider that allows quickly selecting relevant date ranges by moving the slider. Suggested related articles display beneath the limits (similar to PubMed related article feature).

Main Search Results Pane

Search History: When selected, search history displays above search results.

Preview Articles: Articles can be previewed by hovering over an icon in the results list (click on the magnifying glass/document image (this is the same idea as when you click on the binoculars image to preview search results at ask.com)).

Adding articles to Folder: Add articles to your folder directly from the preview window

Image Quick View: Results list includes thumbnails of images from the document. It will be great to know up-front whether an article has charts or an illustrations.

Customization/Saving Options Enhancements: Displays all citation methods (includes an easy copy to clipboard)

Folder: Users can now preview contents of folders from the results screen.

Useful links:

EBSCOhost 2.0 overview: includes link to an Enhancements Overview PowerPoint and an Enhancements Overview Flash Demo

EBSCOhost 2.0 flash demo

JSTOR

The JSTOR sandbox lays out some information about the new interface. It says, “Individual and organizational access to JSTOR will automatically transition to the new platform. We are testing thoroughly our various access mechanisms in an effort to ensure that this transition is as smooth as possible for all users, and we have already contacted those institutions that may need alternate methods.”

New features include: limit search by discipline, enhanced proximity operators in advanced drop down boxes (near5, near10, near25), search within these results, results page with multiple tabs (articles, images in JSTOR, images in ARTSTOR), article page navigation by clicking side arrows, a personalized account, and thumbnail views of article pages. Scroll to the middle of the sandbox page for a listing of the new features and for additional training resources.

JSTOR also makes available its presentations from the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting including: Michael Spinella’s “Welcome and JSTOR Updates” slides and audio; Beth LaPensee’s “JSTOR Redesign” slides and accompanying audio; and Javanica Curry’s presentation slides and audio about Aluka updates.

Both of the new interfaces seem to offer enhancements improving functionality and usability.

OverDrive: Compatibility Enhancements

Speaking of enhancements improving usability, OverDrive has plans to begin offering MP3 audiobooks (initially, at least 3000 books will be available in MP3 format without digital rights management (DRM)). Also forthcoming is an OverDrive console for Mac users. This is definite progress towards openness and playing nicely together on both counts, not to mention that it will benefit users!

View OverDrive’s own announcement: OverDrive to Distribute MP3 Audiobooks to Booksellers and Libraries or view the Library Journal article: OverDrive Breaks the iPod Barrier for Downloadable Audio.

Koha 3

In past iterations, Liblime’s Koha has had a lot to offer. As a full-featured open source ILS with no vendor lock in, Koha serves as a viable (and many would say desirable) alternative to high-priced vendor specific systems. Now Koha is available for download in its Beta 3 version. Visit Koha’s Koha 3.0.0 Beta Released announcement for the link to the download and to read about what’s new in 3.0.0.

Note (added April 01, 2008): Also changing is Ovid’s platform.  View the flash demo or the full list of training materials for more information about OvidSP.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007)

*some spoilers follow

Nana said, “Learn this and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.”

In his first novel following the success of the The Kite Runner, Hosseini once again brings readers into Afghanistan. Whereas The Kite Runner focuses on telling the story of boys and men, A Thousand Splendid Suns portrays the lives of two Afghan women. Hosseini relates Miriam and Lila’s stories as women in Afghanistan during a time when their country devalued and disrespected women’s rights and provided them with restricted power of choice in the events of their own lives.

“Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami…Mariam did surmise, by the way Nana said the word, that it was an ugly, loathsome thing to be a harami, like an insect, like the scurrying cockroaches Nana was always cursing and sweeping out of the kolba.” Mariam’s classification as a harami positions her to be rejected by respectable members of Afghan society. Accordingly, following Nana’s death, Miriam has little choice but to accept the marriage proposal of Rasheed, a man who turns out to value his wives only for what they can give him–progeny. When it turns out that Miriam cannot, in fact, give him this desire, he turns the full force of his cruelty and abuse upon her.

The parallel story is that of Laila whose circumstances also conspire to force her into marriage with Rasheed–Laila’s parents have been killed, and she is pregnant by a man whom she loves but believes to be dead. Laila marries Rasheed, and, for a time, Laila and Mariam are the bitterest of enemies until they become the best of friends.

The story shifts back and forth between the perspectives of these two women as together they endure in their country perpetual war under different rulers with different level of tolerance of women–Soviets, the mujahideen, the Taliban. Together they endure in their home life perpetual fear, powerlessness, and abuse. Because they are together, they also help each other to hope for a better future for Laila’s children. When Taliq (Laila’s childhood love) returns, the far-off promise of hope draws near to reality.

A Thousand Splendid Suns reveals the lives of two women whose courage, resilience, and love keeps them going and makes them memorable characters; it also shows the interconnections between sacrifice and redemption, situation and choice, and power and powerlessness. For other books that are set in and around Afghanistan try:

Non-fiction:

• Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez
• The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
• The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan by Christina Lamb
• Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan by Ann Jones
• Behind the Burqa: Our Life in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom by Sulima and Hala and Batya Swift Yasgur

Fiction:

• Measuring Time by Helon Habila
• The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
• The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
• The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
• Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples (young adult)

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To help you plan you Easter Storytime(s), I’ve listed some suggested picture books, songs/rhymes, and additional links that I hope you’ll find useful. I decided to present the resources as a list (in contrast to a pre-formatted plan) so that you can easily pick and choose and select any combination that you feel will be most successful for your audience.

Book Ideas

Bunny Trouble by Hans Wilhelm
Ralph the bunny would rather play soccer than paint Easter eggs. He runs into trouble when he’s captured by a farmer, but with the help of a clever sister and some Easter eggs, he lives to kick the ball another day.

More Bunny Trouble by Hans Wilhelm
Ralph the bunny is back and he’s busily painting Easter eggs and babysitting his little sister. When he neglects to do the latter, she wanders away, and it’s up to Ralph to find her again.

The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing
This rendition includes all the rhythms of the familiar “Night Before Christmas” with a new Easter setting and storyline.

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett
Duck sits patiently on a huge green-spotted egg waiting for it to hatch. When it does, both Duck and readers are in for a surprise.

Chicky Chicky Chook Chookby Cathy MacLennan
Onomatopoeia and rhyme make this a fun and rambunctious Easter time read aloud.

The Grumpy Easter Bunny by Justine Korman and Lucinda McQueen (illustrator)
Hopper is a grumpy bunny. Why should he hide his Easter treats and give them to others when he could just eat them all himself? By story’s end, Hopper is much happier as he’s discovered the joy of sharing.

Here Comes T. Rex Cottontail by Lois G. Grambling and Jack E. Davis (Illustrator)
It’s Easter time and T. Rex is filling in for the Easter Bunny who has taken a sick day. Youngsters will enjoy the humor in the notion as they join the huge dinosaur on his romp to deliver the eggs.

Milo the Really Big Bunny by Stephen Krensky and Melissa Suber (Illustrator)
Milo is different from other bunnies—where they are small and white, he’s enormous and purple. He just doesn’t fit in. But when the Easter Bunny needs a helper Milo soon discovers that the characteristics that make him different also make him special (very Rudolph-like in concept).

Humbug Rabbit by Lorna Balian
Two stories intertwine about the Rabbit family underground and Granny and her grandchildren above ground.

Songs/Rhymes

Easter Eggs (Sung to the tune of: London Bridge)

Hunting for my Easter eggs;
Easter eggs;
Easter eggs;
Hunting for my Easter eggs;
Put ‘em in my basket.
Now my basket it is full.
It is full.
It is full.
Now my basket it is full
We found all the eggs!

OR

I’m a Little Bunny (Sung to the tune of: I’m a Little Teapot)

I’m a little bunny, with a cotton tail;
See me hopping down the trail,
When I see a carrot —
My ears - they shake!
And then, of course,
A bite I take!!!
CRUNCH!!!!!

OR

See the Easter Bunny (Sung to the Tune of: Mulberry Bush)

See how the bunny hops along,
Hops along, hops along.

See how the bunny hops along,
On an Easter morning.

This is the way he wiggles his nose,
Wiggles his nose,
Wiggles his nose
This is the way he wiggles his nose,
On an Easter morning.

This is the way he flops his ears
Flops his ears, flops his ears
This is the way he flops his ears
On an Easter morning.

See how he jiggles his cotton tail,
Cotton tail, cotton tail
See how he jiggles his cotton tail,
On an Easter morning.

OR

Jelly Beans (Sung to the tune of: Skip to My Lou)

(Red) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Red) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Red) jelly beans — yum, yum.
Jelly beans in my tummy!
(Green) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Green) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Green) jelly beans — yum, yum.
Jelly beans in my tummy!
(Orange) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Orange) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Orange) jelly beans — yum, yum.
Jelly beans in my tummy!
(Pink) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Pink) jelly beans — yum, yum.
(Pink) jelly beans — yum, yum.
Jelly beans in my tummy!

The above songs and many more are available at Kids Rhymes/Songs. The Easter bunny image is available from Free Gifs & Animations.

Resources for additional Easter Ideas (crafts, activities, games, and more):

Billy Bear’s Happy Easter: includes online games, puzzles, and printable worksheets/coloring pages

DLTK’s Easter Section: includes suggested Easter Activities

First School Years Easter Resources: scroll to the bottom for links to myriad additional sites with Easter content

Kaboose Easter 2008: Bunny and Easter Basket Crafts, Coloring Pages, Spring Recipes, and Easter Egg Hunt Ideas

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Deadline by Chris Crutcher (2007)

“I figure if Doc is right about the time I have left, I should wrap up my adolescence in the next few days, get into my early productive stages about the third week of school, go through my midlife crisis during Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, redouble my efforts at productivity and think about my legacy, say, Easter, and start cashing in my 401(k)s a couple weeks before Memorial Day. I don’t have to worry about making enough money to put kids through college so I can focus on the more philosophical elements of my life.”

Ben Wolf may seem to be taking his impending death in an offhand manner, but his deadpan assessment of his last year alive is a coping mechanism. He’s coping with the death sentence handed to him during a routine physical checkup to clear him for his senior year of cross-country. Instead of clearing him, Ben discovers he has a rare, aggressive, fatal blood disease; he begins to take a hard look at his life and to make some changes.

Instead of just going through the days, Ben wants the final year of his life to be meaningful for himself and others. He decides to tell no one that he’s dying. Ben also refuses treatment for, as he puts it, “…without treatment my chances sucked, but with it they still sucked and somehow I knew my chances aren’t about living, they’re about living well.” In this quest to live well, he quits cross-country and joins his brother on the football field, he speaks up for his beliefs (and for Malcom X) in class, and he befriends the town drunk.

Each character in Deadline helps Ben face his forthcoming deadline in his or her own way–his brother Cody as a football teammate and as the Wolf who will carry on, the love of his life Dallas Suzuki as his first, the town drunk Rudy McCoy as the man who teaches him about mistakes and covering up the truth, Coach Banks as his mentor and encourager, and his conversational partner during dreams Hey-Soos as the one who helps him think through the meaning of life and truth. Ben’s cantankerous teacher, Mr. Lambeer, even helps in his own way by forcing Ben to “hijack the curriculum” to speak up for his freedoms and his beliefs.

Deadline mixes levity with gravity. Deadline tackles many weighty themes: secrets, truth, family, mental illness, death, child molestation, and censorship to name a few. As Ben tells us and as we all discover at times, “Planet Earth is a tough town.” But he also shows us that that doesn’t mean we can’t make the most of our time in it.

There’s much to appreciate about Deadline. Some readers will appreciate the football action. Some will appreciate the relationships that develop (Particularly poignant, for me, was the relationship of Ben with his brother). Some will appreciate the philosophical aspects. Some will appreciate and admire Ben’s courage. Some will simply appreciate the fact that they’re alive and able to read a book.

Deadline’s plot has similarities with Jenny Downham’s Before I Die in that both stories chronicle the protagonist’s final time on earth. Before I Die mainly focuses on Tessa’s fulfilling her list of personal desires. In Deadline, Ben’s final actions and desires reflect both personal desires and desires to have a lasting positive impact on others. Both stories imagine the almost unimaginable–what would you do or want to do if you knew you were living out your final days?

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A few posts ago, I mentioned IE8 beta, so I figured to be equitable I should also highlight the release of Firefox 3 Beta 4 (particularly since Firefox is the browser I know and love best, so there you go, there’s my admission of bias).

In addition to all that Firefox currently offers, Firefox 3 Beta 4 adds “more than 900 enhancements” (according to Mozilla’s What’s New) including features such as an improved download manager and a robust page zoom.

Follow this link to read Mozilla’s posting about the latest and greatest Firefox release. As with IE8 beta, it’s mainly recommended for developers and testers right now as the kinks get worked out.

If you’d like to read a few other posts about the release, try Lifehacker’s Firefox 3 Beta 4 Now Available or Download Squad’s Firefox 3 Beta 4 Released.

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I read Brian Herzog’s post New Google Feature? the other day over at Swiss Army Librarian, then I read the Google Blog post Search within a site: a tale of teleportation, and then I tried some sample searches. About what, you say?

I was searching to test out Google’s new built-in “search within a site” box that now appears for many educational, governmental, and other organizations.

While the “site” search feature has been around a long time, it used to be that in order to use it the searcher needed to know the URL of the website and then needed to enter that URL along with the search keywords into the search box. Using the site search operator has allowed users to search within only that one site (versus searching Google’s entire index) to create more relevant results.

For example, if I wanted to search the United States Postal Service website for information regarding the upcoming stamp price change, my search string might look something like: price change 2008 site:www.usps.com. Or say I wanted to search OCLC for information on WorldCat.org, then my search string might look something like: worldcat.org site:www.oclc.org.

Provided that the URL of the site to be searched is known to begin with, this is a smooth one-search process. But if the URL is not known, then the searcher either needs to perform a keyword search including words from the site name in my search string (which will likely increase recall while decreasing relevance) or the searcher needs to first search for the URL, copy the URL, and then paste it into the search bar along with the search keywords and the site operator.

Neither of these options is quite as smooth, yet many searchers have been conducting just such searches. On the Google Blog, they write about noticing just such a trend: “…there were lots of searchers who would type the name of a specific website as if they wanted to teleport, but would then immediately issue another more a refined search within this site.” Google’s people then decided to experiment with simplifying this process, and they found that “presenting users with a search box as part of the result increases their likelihood of finding the exact page they are looking for.”

This search within a site box showing up on the main Google results page is by no means ubiquitous, but it is available for many sites where it proves most useful (colossal sites that are difficult to navigate to find a specific piece of information that is sought). For example, below is the image for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagin site search from the main page of the Google results:

So be on the lookout for the search within a site box in your own searches. It’s heartening to see that Google continues to look for ways to help us users navigate to the most useful results instead of just leaving us to flail around hopelessly in the morass of results (which still seems to happen sometimes anyway…).

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