Google Search Box as a Content Box Type

Among the new features we announced today, the “Google Search Box” content box type is perhaps the most important because it is a harbinger of future functionality for searching content inside LibGuides boxes.

Our grand plan for world library domination involves creating a set of APIs which anybody (e.g. library techies who wish to create native catalog search content box in LibGuides, or database publishers who wish to create a content box for searching of their database content within LibGuides) can use to create their own content box types and include them in the content box library inside LibGuides. We will release these APIs later this year, but the Google Search box gives you an idea of how these custom search boxes will work.

When you create a Google Search Box (it is listed as the last option in the Box Types list), you’ll get a blank box with a search form inside. Just like with any other box type, you can add introductory text by clicking on the “add text” link. An example of this would be to provide instructions on searching, or some examples of search terms.

After performing a search (in admin mode) you will notice the “make this the default query” option at the beginning of search results. This enables you to define a default query whose results will appear in the search box when the user loads the page for the first time.

The box displays top 20 results from Google and at the bottom provides the link to Google Search page for more result matches.