Students and others find what they're looking for with Google Search

When you think about all that a university has to offer, you probably think of classes, curriculum, and alumni activities. But universities have much more to share. In fact, they provide information to a surprising number of communities – current and prospective students, faculty members, alumni, sports or team fans, and regional audiences interested in recreational or cultural events, to name a few.

All of this information is usually centralized on the university's web site – but structuring the diverse data these sites present in a way that makes it "findable" can challenge even the best web architects. That's where the Google Search Appliance (GSA) comes in. By powering a university website with search, the GSA lets any visitor type zero in on the information they're after without having to navigate page after page, or seek one-off answers through phone calls or emails.

Especially in these financially-stretched times, universities (and everybody else) appreciate the savings when successful website search minimizes follow-ups and employee attention and time.

Illinois State University, for example, uses the GSA to streamline the way that students find the latest information on classes and schedules. Their customized "Course Finder" delivers results through the familiar Google search box, so visitors already know how to search for answers. Users easily customize searches by departments, time slots, instructors, or other criteria – and, because the GSA reaches beyond website data for results, public information on the university's mainframes or servers is instantly findable.

Mark Troester, Illinois State University's Director of Web Support, says that using the GSA accelerates the speed at which information reaches visitors. “The Google Search Appliance saved enormous time and effort,” he says, “and integrated seamlessly with our existing IT infrastructure.”

The team at Illinois State University has offered to share their experience with GSA – along with updates on Google Apps and Security solutions on campus – at an upcoming webinar, Google Search for Your School, on January 21, 2009 at 11:00 AM PST. We hope you'll join us by participating in the webinar and learning what Google search can do for your website.

Posted by Vijay Koduri, Google Search Appliance Team