Searching High and Low

I saw today that Ebsco support has added a Search Box Builder [Update July 2009: here's an updated link directly to the tool] for those interested in creating a search box widget for Ebscohost databases that can be dropped into any webpage. The builder form asks you to enter a variety of parameters and then generates code that you can copy and paste into your site.

To construct your form you will need to:

• select which Ebscohost databases are to be searched
• enter proxy server information (if any)
• choose search limit options (full text, scholarly journals, etc.)
• select a style from the style gallery (three choices)

That’s it. For libraries that maintain a substantial collection of Ebsco databases, I can see this tool being used to create subject-specific search forms that can be placed on “research by subject” pages on a library site.  Here’s a full text search box for two databases at my library, Academic Search Premier and MasterFILE Premier.  [May not work if you're at home or if your institution does not subscribe to these two databases]