Result Assessment Tool: A Software Toolkit for Conducting Studies Based on Search Results

Abstract

The Result Assessment Tool (RAT) is a software toolkit for conducting research using results from commercial search engines and other information retrieval (IR) systems. This software combines modules used for the design and management of studies, the automatic collection of search results through web scraping, and the assessment of search results by jurors using different scales in an assessment interface. Due to the flexibility of RAT, several types of studies can be implemented, for example, classification studies and qualitative content analyses in addition to classic retrieval tests. Therefore, RAT is a versatile tool and useful in various disciplines.