Based on the queries that were run on both Google and EBSCOHost the following tables illustrate the key differences. The first table highlights the results returned based on the queries.
Type of queries | No of queries
run |
EBSCOHost | |
Power Search only | 3 | Returns a large number of results even after applying filters | Able to return a smaller number of results |
Power Search with Stem | 3 | Returns a large number of results even after applying filters | Able to return a smaller number of results |
Power Search with Phrasing | 3 | The choice of keywords used in the phrasing impacts the results returned | Not able to conclude anything no results found |
Power Search with Phrasing and Stem | 3 | Returns a smaller number of results | Not able to conclude anything no results found |
The second table discusses the features available between Google and EBSCOHost and their effectiveness.
Features | EBSCOHost | |
Boolean operators | Helpful to refine the search | Very helpful to refine the search |
Filters | Filters are helpful to narrow the results | Filters are helpful to narrow the results |
Document types | Helpful to refine the search | Very useful to refine the search |
Response time | Very fast on all queries | Very fast on all queries |
In conclusion, EBSCOHost is slightly better in its effectiveness because it returns a smaller pool of results when compared to Google. However, for the range of queries Google is more effective as it can produce results with a combination of stem and phrasing while EBSCOHost doesn’t work very well when the queries are complex.