Thursday, September 25, 2003
Engine Math
Some subjects are so narrow that you will get only a few hits at an engine. Sometimes you get more than you could search in a lifetime. How can you hone in on what you really want? Try what Danny Sullivan calls Engine Math
1. Quotation marks - put proper names and phrases in quotes.
Example: "John Wayne" "San Francisco" "It was the best of times it was the worst of times" Quotation marks will force it to search for all of those words and in that exact order.
2. Plus sign. Use the mathematical symbol for plus to indicate that that particular word must appear in the result to be included. Don't put any space between the sign and the word.
Example: +batman robin gotham In this example the word batman would have to be there. If the engine found robin and gotham, but not batman, no dice.
3. Minus sign. Use a hyphen to indicate a minus symbol. This lets the engine know that if this word appears leave this site out of the hit list. Don't put any space between the sign and the word.
Example: -baseball bats catching This would help exclude baseball sites while looking for things on bats the animal.
Some subjects are so narrow that you will get only a few hits at an engine. Sometimes you get more than you could search in a lifetime. How can you hone in on what you really want? Try what Danny Sullivan calls Engine Math
1. Quotation marks - put proper names and phrases in quotes.
Example: "John Wayne" "San Francisco" "It was the best of times it was the worst of times" Quotation marks will force it to search for all of those words and in that exact order.
2. Plus sign. Use the mathematical symbol for plus to indicate that that particular word must appear in the result to be included. Don't put any space between the sign and the word.
Example: +batman robin gotham In this example the word batman would have to be there. If the engine found robin and gotham, but not batman, no dice.
3. Minus sign. Use a hyphen to indicate a minus symbol. This lets the engine know that if this word appears leave this site out of the hit list. Don't put any space between the sign and the word.
Example: -baseball bats catching This would help exclude baseball sites while looking for things on bats the animal.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Sometimes a great idea spirals out to the next level. A group of librarians in Berkeley had a great idea. They wanted to create an internet directory with a difference - great subject access, quality information and more. The result was the Librarian's Index to the Internet. The number of contributors spread out from California and it moved to larger servers quickly, going from a local to national project.
Next time quality counts for work or homework give the Librarian's Index to the Internet a try. You may yell Yahoo for a different reason. :)
Next time quality counts for work or homework give the Librarian's Index to the Internet a try. You may yell Yahoo for a different reason. :)
Monday, September 22, 2003
Homework is always graded on whether you got your facts right. Those teachers are just so picky. :) Because of that you may not want to rely on just any old search engine or even directory. You may want to use tools that are picked because of their quality.
Some I like are:
Kids Click
Teachers @ Work
High School Hub
Middle School Hub
Reflinks
Some I like are:
Kids Click
Teachers @ Work
High School Hub
Middle School Hub
Reflinks
Friday, September 19, 2003
Google, Google, Google. I know that Google is a fabulous tool, but it isn't the only tool. You couldn't fix much with only a phillips screwdriver. You won't find everything with only one engine. Greg Notess of Search Engine Showdown pointed out at his site recently that there is actually much less overlap than you would expect. Overlap chart and article
So what do you do? Flex those mental muscles and use some new search engines. For one week replace your Google toolbar with a new engine toolbar like Teoma, AltaVista, or another.
So what do you do? Flex those mental muscles and use some new search engines. For one week replace your Google toolbar with a new engine toolbar like Teoma, AltaVista, or another.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
In the beginning was the word... The first book printed with movable type was the Gutenberg Bible. So in honour of that accomplishment, one of the largest databases of books online was named Project Gutenberg. As of today there were over 6,267 books available for you to read online for free. Project Gutenberg works with books in the public domain, which means that they no longer are covered by copyright. So you won't find the latest John Grisham, but you will find some really great titles.
Other book projects are:
University of Virginia's Electronic Text Center
Carnegie Mellon University's Universal Library Project
The Librarian's Index to the Internet has links to more projects.
Other book projects are:
University of Virginia's Electronic Text Center
Carnegie Mellon University's Universal Library Project
The Librarian's Index to the Internet has links to more projects.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
As a librarian you have to keep up with new ideas for searching the web. One of my favourite ways to learn about changes at engines is Chris Sherman's Search Day.
Search Day is a free e-newsletter that talks about changes in the engine world and search strategies. It comes from the folks at Search Engine Watch and most of their content is free as is the Search Day newletter.
The newsletter itself has some ads to pay for the newsletter, but they don't seem to be selling my name to every spammer on the planet and I like that too.
Search Day is a free e-newsletter that talks about changes in the engine world and search strategies. It comes from the folks at Search Engine Watch and most of their content is free as is the Search Day newletter.
The newsletter itself has some ads to pay for the newsletter, but they don't seem to be selling my name to every spammer on the planet and I like that too.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Well my father goes in for a heart catheterization next week. So I'm into medical search tools right now.
MedlinePlus is a fabulous site. Medline is run by the National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus is their consumer directory. They spend a lot of time make sure that you get quality links.
HealthFinder is run by the Department of Health and Human Services. The look and feel is very different, but you will also find good consumer health information here.
Mayo Clinic offers the same type of health encyclopedias that you would find at Medline and HealthFinder, but also health quizes, monthly feature articles etc.
Health A to Z is a commercial site and will take you to some sites that are run by folks in the medical industry. The information is still good, but users should be aware that information on say a medication might be coming from the people who make the prescription.
These are just a sample of the quality health sites out there. Always remember to check out any health related resource with your doctor before changing your diet, medication and exercise program.
MedlinePlus is a fabulous site. Medline is run by the National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus is their consumer directory. They spend a lot of time make sure that you get quality links.
HealthFinder is run by the Department of Health and Human Services. The look and feel is very different, but you will also find good consumer health information here.
Mayo Clinic offers the same type of health encyclopedias that you would find at Medline and HealthFinder, but also health quizes, monthly feature articles etc.
Health A to Z is a commercial site and will take you to some sites that are run by folks in the medical industry. The information is still good, but users should be aware that information on say a medication might be coming from the people who make the prescription.
These are just a sample of the quality health sites out there. Always remember to check out any health related resource with your doctor before changing your diet, medication and exercise program.
Friday, September 12, 2003
I am listening to the BBC and cleaning my desk at work. You can see the top in spots. We may have to call the news channels.
Well this is a librarian's blog, so here is my first research tip.
When you get too many results at Google and really need an experts opinion, you might want to look at Yahoo's users groups. The User group index lets you search by topic. Your result will have a description of the group's goal and # of members This can help you decide, if the group may help you with answers. You may have to join the group to read and post questions. Happy searching
Well this is a librarian's blog, so here is my first research tip.
When you get too many results at Google and really need an experts opinion, you might want to look at Yahoo's users groups. The User group index lets you search by topic. Your result will have a description of the group's goal and # of members This can help you decide, if the group may help you with answers. You may have to join the group to read and post questions. Happy searching
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Welcome to Reference World. I am setting up this blog in order to teach a class on blogging at my library. Figured it was best to iron out bugs and learn what to do before I had 15 people sitting in the lab staring at me.
