USGS Web Sites Now Using the Google Search Technologies

Posted to MAPS-L on September 24, 2007 by John Foulkes.

MEMORANDUM
To: All USGS Employees
From: Karen Siderelis, Associate Director for Geospatial Information

Subject: USGS Web Sites Now Using the Google Search Technologies

According to feedback from users, the search capability on our public Web
sites was not meeting their needs. Also, employees were not satisfied
with the search functionality on the USGS Intranet. In September 2006,
the Geospatial Information Office (GIO) established the EWeb Search
Improvement Team to enhance search functionality for both our public and
internal Web presence.

The first phase of this effort involved researching government best
practices and evaluating several technology options.

Public Web Site Search
The team’s analysis indicated that the Google Custom Search Engine was the
best solution for our public Web pages.

The Google Custom search engine:
- Helps the public and USGS employees find, get, and use our science and information
- Replaces an out-of-date search engine
- Allows users to customize and configure search indices and results
- Enables the GIO to focus resources on Intranet search improvement and the integration of project data and information across the bureau.

The Google Custom Search Engine indexes all Web sites in the USGS domain (usgs.gov) and public non-USGS domain websites, such as nationalmap.gov, nbii.gov, and gisdata.usgs.net.

The Google Custom Search Engine has markedly improved users’ search capability on public USGS Web pages. This table shows several sample queries and the top result returned for both the previous and new search engine:

Posted to MAPS-L on September 24, 2007 by John Foulkes.