Performance of search engines in harvesting grey literature

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine how far search engines have succeeded in retrieving electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) using different search techniques and approaches. This study also compared the search results of search engines to identify the most suitable search engine for searching and retrieving the ETDs.Design/methodology/approachFifty ETDs have been selected using systematic random sampling techniques from Shodhganga (a reservoir of Indian theses). These ETDs have been searched through prominent search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, Yahoo and Open Access Theses and Dissertation (OATD) using different search approaches and techniques.FindingsThe overall performance of the search engines revealed that Google retrieved most of the ETDs (89%) followed by OATD (88.5%), Yahoo (78%) and Google Scholar (76%), respectively.Originality/valueThe results have brought into light interesting findings regarding search engines in retrieving grey literature.