Some Benchmark Searches for Testing Search Capabilities and Medical Coverage of Internet Discovery Tools

The past few years have seen a proliferation of search engines for the World Wide Web (WWW), as well as a growing number of specialized subject directories geared to the needs of health care professionals. Yet documentation on scope, coverage, and search features is often uneven at best; and even documented search features may not perform as advertised. This paper will present a group of sample searches to assist users in gauging database size, determining default search operators, and testing for the presence of advanced search features such as case sensitivity, stemming, and concept mapping for medical topics on English-language web sites.