JavaScript tools for online information retrieval

JavaScript has a comparatively long history as an online information retrieval tool. During the last decade SilverPlatter's popular WebSPIRS 4.0 started using JavaScript for its search functions. International Children's Digital Library is a current system that applies JavaScript for category based information retrieval. However, JavaScript capabilities for quick browsing and searching small collections is under utilized in light of advanced server-side technologies. Focussing on search engines using data arrays in scripts, this paper tries to justify one possible reason behind this high response time for the starting search. To cope up with the situation, the paper introduces a model for interface design. Also it reveals that the script search is superior to server side techniques in terms to response time, when the user's session is several searches long.