Unless you want the search box front and center, which would make it look like a federated search, you could do what we do [1] and use placement to make its purpose clear. [1] http://www.wcu.edu/1602.asp Joel -----Original Message----- From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sarah Weeks Sent: Friday, July 30, 2010 8:22 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [CODE4LIB] usability question: searching for a database (not in a database) Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a little usability question I was hoping someone could give me advice on. I'm updating the databases page on our website and we'd like to add a search box that would search certain fields we have set up for our databases (title, vendor, etc...) so that even if someone doesn't remember the first word in the title, they can quickly find the database they're looking through without having to scroll through the whole A-Z list. My question is: if we add a search box to our main database page, how can we make it clear that it's for searching FOR a database and not IN a database? Some of the choices we've considered are: Seach for a database: Search this list: Don't remember the name of the database? Search here: I'm not feeling convinced by any of them. I'm afraid when people see a search box they're not going to bother reading the text but will just assume it's a federated search tool. Any advice? -Sarah Beth -- Sarah Beth Weeks Interim Head Librarian of Technical Services and Systems St Olaf College Rolvaag Memorial Library 1510 St. Olaf Avenue Northfield, MN 55057 507-786-3453 (office) 717-504-0182 (cell) --