Using
web search engines effectively
Search engines, such as Google, create their listings automatically
by crawling through the web seeking out sites and indexing the
pages they find. Page titles, body text, META tags (used by page designers
to encourage listings in search engines) and other elements all play a
role in what gets indexed. You can then locate the results via keywords
entered into the search engine.
The three major elements of a search engines are: the spider,
also called the crawler; the index or catalogue; and the search
engine which displays the results of your query in your browser.
The spider visits a web page, indexes it, and then follows links
to other pages within the site. The spider returns to the site
every so often looking for changes. The index is a giant database that
contains a copy of every web page that the spider finds. Search engine
software sifts through the millions of pages recorded in the index to
find matches to a query and ranks them in the order of what it believes
is most relevant. Different search engines often produce very different
results.
Because of this process it is unwise to restrict your searches to just
one search engine. Select out several for your search.
If you have a general subject in mind type the word or words in the search
box and click the search button. Results are usually listed in order of
relevancy based on keywords and other factors. Unfortunately the search
may result in an overwhelming number of results and therefore to make
sense of the searching a user needs to use more advanced techniques to
get a manageable result.
If you know exactly what you want, you can get better results by entering
very specific information into the search box. Despite differences in
each search engine's tools, there are tools that most search engines have
in common.
To require that an entire phrase be found in a search, enter quotes ("
") around the terms. For example, "HMS Buffalo"
returns listings where these words appear together and in that order,
either in the title, the address of the web site (URL), the description,
the keywords, or the document itself. If you omit the quote marks then
you would find every page containing hms and every page containing
buffalo!
You can type the plus sign (+) before a word to require that it be found
in all of the search results. For example, endeavour +cook returns
all listings that contain endeavour and cook but not
necessarily together. Note that the search is not case specific.
Using the minus sign (-) before a word requires that this word is not
to be included in the search results. For example, jaunay -graham
lists sites containing jaunay but not graham.
Major search engines include:
1. General
AltaVista - has very comprehensive coverage and a wide range of power
searching commands, which make it a particular favourite among researchers.
It gets its listings from Yahoo! Search.
All The Web - uses results from Yahoo! Search plus an
index of tens of millions of pdf and doc files.
Ask.com - (formerly Ask Jeeves) attempts to direct you
to the exact page that answers your question. If it fails to find a match
within its own database, then it will provide web pages from their search
engine.
Google - is currently the most popular search engine that makes
heavy use of link popularity as a primary way to rank web sites. This
can be especially helpful in finding good sites in response to general
searches such as genealogy because users across the web have
in essence voted for good sites by linking to them. Google is
also known for a wide range of features including: cached pages, excellent
spell checking, access to dictionary definitions, stock quotes, street
maps, telephone numbers and more. The Google Toolbar is also
very popular.
HotBot - has advanced search features and presents listings from
either Ask.com or MSN Search.
MSN Search - Microsoft's MSN web portal also offers free email,
instant messenger, and a directory. It provides access to Yahoo's
listings.
Netscape Search - results come primarily from Google.
Yahoo! Search - was once the web's most popular search service
and is still a good alternative to Google.
Search engine |
Test search results |
Advanced search features |
jaunay +graham |
jaunay -graham |
AltaVista |
1070 |
164,000 |
yes: file type, date, web address, language |
All the Web |
946 |
13,100 |
yes: file type, date, web address, language |
Ask.com |
880 |
2560 |
yes: web address, country, modified, language |
Google |
676 |
233,000 |
yes: Aus only, file type, date, web address, language |
HotBot |
as for Ask.com or MSN Search |
MSN Search |
4870 |
75,500 |
no: |
Netscape
Search |
601 |
20,200 |
yes: file type, date, web address, language |
Yahoo! Search |
1120 |
168,000 |
no: |
2. Metasearch
Metasearch engines search a number of general search engines and collect
the best results.
DogPile - searches Google, Yahoo, Live,
and Ask.
Excite - searches Google, Yahoo and Ask.com
listings.
Search.com - searches Google, Ask.com, LookSmart
and dozens of other leading search engines to bring you the best results.
WebCrawler - combines results from Google, Yahoo!
Search, MSN Search and Ask.com.
3. Subject searches
Specialised search engines search in a specific subject area or type of
file. There is a specialised search engine on the web for almost every subject
imaginable, including genealogy. The quality of search engines varies and
Search
Engine Guide is a good place to find specialised search engines.
A word of caution about the genealogy search engines on the Search Engine
Guide site. Most of those listed are not true search engines but are
subject directories.
I Found It! is
a simple directory that specialises in genealogy pages. You can search using
wildcards, keywords, and phrases. You can specify a category to search (cemeteries,
censuses, family pages, books, magazines, online archives, etc.) or search
all categories.
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