Rollyo Search and Google Custom Search

When I first read about Rollyo, it sounded so fun that I wanted to get several good sites.  I happily went about finding sites on space exploration, nativity sets and genealogy.  Then I went to Rollyo.com and was met with the message "Rollyo is Undergoing Maintenance.  We'll be back soon."  Over several days, I checked back with the site to see if soon had happened.  I do not know what their version of soon is but a week is not soon.  I find this very poor wording on their part.

Since I could not use Rollyo, I went searching to see if I could find another search engine which would do a similar type of thing.  I found out that Google Custom Search does something similar, so I tried it out.  I think it is great.

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In the library, I could see this type of multiple site search engines would be very useful, particularly in a situation where the cooperating teacher had a particular subject they wanted searched.  This would help with time constraints, since the students would not need to search, critique, and comprehend the sites for their assignment to be completed.

This type of search engine also allows for the same search to be preformed on multiple sites at the times.  Sometimes when I do research, half of my time is taken up with waiting for the computer to load various sites with search engines so that I can search them.  It is a real annoyance.  Having one search, if the search engine is good, speeds things up.

Also, this can allow a librarian, to make the library website more user friendly.  A website with a search function, allows users to pinpoint information without looking through the entire site.  Most users do not what to be looking for something for a longer time than it takes to use the thing.  This is definitely true of website patrons who want their information now.

I think these type of searches are very useful and a good addition for libraries and website creators alike.