Retrieval Effectiveness of Search Engines in the field of Nursing

Abstract

Purpose: The present study evaluates the retrieval performance of three search engines, i.e., Google, Yahoo, and Bing, using four evaluation parameters: precision,recall, duplicate links, and comprehensiveness in nursing. 
Methodology: The three popular search engines in health sciences, i.e., Google,Yahoo, and Bing, were selected for evaluation. Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science was used to extract the queries in the nursing field.
Findings: Bing achieves the highest total mean precision. However, Google has the highest overall mean relative recall and number of results. The overall mean precision, duplicate links, and number of hits of select search engines are highest for three-word queries. However, overall relative recall is equal for all the query intents. Furthermore, Yahoo retrieves a maximum number of duplicate links.
Research implications: The study will be helpful for researchers and healthcare professionals to understand the retrieval efficiency of Google, Yahoo, and Bing in seeking answers to queries in the field of nursing. Search engines’ retrieval effectiveness determines the users’ precise health decision-making capability. The study offers the best platform for executing different query structures across select search engines to achieve desired results without losing key results. The results may also prove helpful to search engine companies for improving the retrieval efficiency of their services in the area of health sciences in general and nursing in particular.
Originality: Several performance schemes have been employed to evaluate the retrieval effectiveness of search engines. Nevertheless, users may not know which search engine is best for retrieving relevant information from the Internet in nursing. The study highlights the retrieval effectiveness of generally used search engines in nursing.

Author Biographies

Fehroz Ahmad Khan has completed his Masters in Library & Information Science from the Department of Library & Information Science, University of Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
Dr Sheikh Shueb works as a Senior Assistant Librarian at Rumi Library,Islamic University of Science & Technology, Awantipora, Jammu andKashmir, India.
Taranum Tahira Khanam has completed her Masters in Library & Information Science from the Department of Library & Information Science, University of Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
Monisa Indrabi has completed her Masters in Library & Information Science from the Department of Library & Information Science, University of Kashmir, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
Dr Sabha Ali works as a Junior Professional Assistant in the Department of Computer Sciences, University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India.