Alumnus Ori Reiss was touring the new Tyser Tower late last semester when he stumbled upon an article in The Diamondback in which university officials announced plans to remedy the university website’s search engine following numerous student complaints.
Reiss, the president and CEO of GlobalNet Services Inc., knew he and his company could lend a helping hand.
“This is kind of our bread and butter,” Reiss said of search engine technology. “We wanted to help the university.”
Reiss, who graduated in 1989, contacted the Office of Information Technology later that month and told them he wanted to create a technological partnership. The revamped search engine, which utilizes features of a Google search appliance, will be unveiled this week.
“In terms of Google, we’re one of the three top partners worldwide,” Reiss said. “It’s right up our alley — it’s a perfect fit.”
The search feature, located in the top right corner of the university’s main website, is used to search all pages affiliated with the university. The application utilizes a Google-brand search appliance initially donated by university alumnus and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The search appliance, which now goes for close to $70,000, has many applications and relies on complicated algorithms akin to the Google website.
Last semester, before the overhaul, OIT officials had said the search appliance was not being used to its full potential.
So far, GlobalNet has spent around 40 hours on the project and anticipates doubling that number in the coming months. The project cost about $31,000 in donations when measured based on the amount of time employees spent and the software developed.
OIT officials say they also put in about 80 hours worth of time into the project.
But officials for both GlobalNet and OIT said the work done to overhaul the search feature is worth a lot more since it is the first impression prospective students regarding the university.
“You want to show your best foot forward,” OIT Director Fran LoPresti said. “It was a very good partnership and everybody wins.”
The search feature is faster and more effective than before. GlobalNet workers vetted the results for duplicates and relevance and ultimately had to eliminate about 75 percent of them. Google search appliance features not being utilized previously have been updated to make the search more user-friendly.
“Basically, these services are priceless,” added Rajesh Sripada, a certified Google engineer with GlobalNet.
Sripada noted this is only the first phase of improving the search engine because the Internet is always evolving. The search appliance will be able to learn over time.
For example, if one search term yields one result that people consistently select, the search appliance will recognize this and move it to the top of the list — no matter where it fell originally. The search will also have a spell checker and a function which predicts the end of your query and gives multiple options to choose from, much like the main Google search.
GlobalNet and OIT have programmed the upgraded search appliance to pull up pre-configured results based on certain key terms. Sripada said this helps users feel comfortable with the interface and humanize the search experience.
Other services provided by GlobalNet are automated reports sent to OIT detailing what users are searching for and what could be changed to make searching more efficient. This will allow OIT to track the search appliance’s progress and make sure it’s working to the best of its ability, GlobalNet officials said.
Because the search appliance needs to be replaced every two years, they also developed a reminder system that will notify OIT when the two-year limit is approaching.
But besides the new banner above the search box and a host of new features, officials said the search engine will not take any adjustment period and students will see the difference right away.
For GlobalNet, which was founded in 1995 and is located in nearby Rockville, helping the university upgrade its search engine is just another chapter in their long-standing relationship with the university. It has offered internships, résumé workshops and scholarships to students in the school of computer sciences for years. They hope to continue a relationship with many different departments at this university and continue to help with search engine technology.
“[The University of] Maryland does a great job bringing any alumni back into the fold,” Reiss said. “[OIT] saw the value in it and saved the university thousands of dollars.”
rhodes at umdbk dot com
