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Search Engines
by Keyno Hanna
Many years ago, when the Internet was new, there were not many search engines. Today, search engines are commonplace. My first encounter with a search engine was at www.ask.com commonly called 'Ask Jeeves'. I was fairly new to the Internet and I thought that being able to find stuff by simply typing it in was magical. There is now a big competition to be the best search engine. Arguably, Google has secured that distinction for now and I must believe this since my home page is not cnn.com or msn.com or even miamidolphins.com, but google.com. Let us take a look at search engines and how to make them work for us.
What is a search engine anyway? I looked around and was able to find quite a few definitions for what a search engine is. Here are just a couple: 'Software that enables users to search the Internet using keywords' and 'A program which acts as a card catalog for the Internet'. The method for finding this information is usually done by maintaining indices of Web resources that can be queried for the keywords entered by the user. Google is supposedly working on a supercomputer in its quest to dominate the next generation of Internet computing.
The truth is many of us go to search engines to look for anything and everything, from vacation homes in Orlando to the answer for a radio disc jockey's question. I actually use search engines daily. To me it is a tool to find things I need to know more about or to research a problem.
To search effectively, let us start with what to exclude in your search criteria. There are certain words that don't lend any assistance to the search and just mean that you have to type more. These words are called common words and include "and, who, where, how". Single digits or letters may also be seen as common characters and can be speed inhibitors. If a common word or character is necessary for your search, it is suggested that you either enclose the entire phrase in quotes e.g. "how are you" or use a mathematical operator like the plus sign e.g. Dumb and Dumber + 2 to retrieve results for Dumb and Dumber 2.
In reference to what to include, I believe it is best to be as specific as possible. If you are planning a vacation to Colorado, you will do better with typing in 'Colorado vacation' than typing 'Colorado' or 'vacation' by themselves. If, for example, you want to find out about skiing in Colorado, 'ski resorts vacation Colorado' will yield wonderful results. Incidentally, Colorado Springs is beautiful in September. To restrict the search even further, just include more terms. It is interesting to note that the order in which you type the terms will affect the search results.
Sometimes we are searching for a term that has multiple meanings like the word "bat". A bat can refer to the mammal, or the instrument used to hit the ball or even the act of hitting the ball. When searching for bat the mammal, you can use a minus sign in front of the word relating to what you do not want e.g. bat Đbaseball.
Here are just a few extra tips about search engines. Sometimes you are searching for a website or page that is no longer available at the original location. You can copy and paste the link into Google and see if the page has been cached. Alternatively, there is a site at www.archive.org that has what they call a "wayback machine" which may be worth visiting. I didn't think I would actually say this, but search in more places than just Google. In fact, there is something called a meta-search engine. Meta-search engines will transmit your search at the same time to several search engines and retrieve the results in a matter of seconds. An example of a meta-search engine is found at www.dogpile.com.
A search engine can be scary though. We can find anything we want whether good or bad. Google has a 'safe filtering' feature that you can turn on that can block web pages with explicit content and images from showing up in their search results. If interested there is a link to preferences on Google's main page where you can go to make the 'safe filtering' change.
Depending on your knowledge, a search engine can either be a valuable tool for you in your work or study or it can be a headache. By using some of the basic tips above, I hope that I can improve the value of search engines for you. For further information on searching, have a look at www.googleguide.com.
To provide feedback on this column, please email makingITwork@providencetg.com
About the Author:
Keyno Hanna is a Technical Analyst at Providence Technology Group. He possesses a Bachelor of Mathematics & Computer Science and is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (2003) with 7 years work experience in the Information Technology industry. Providence Technology Group is one of the Bahamas' leading IT firms, specializing in Networking Solutions, Consulting & Advisory Services and Software Solutions
