Information Technologies for Diplomatic Activities by Stefano Baldi

Gathering Useful Information for Diplomatic Activity

Developing New skills

The right use of Search Engines

There are two main kinds of search services commonly used on the Web: the index, and the directory or subject guide. One way to understand the differences between these two kinds of engines is to think of web sites as books. Indexes will catalogue every word in every book, and will list for you each page that contains word(s) you're looking for. Directories and Subject Guides take the overall subject matter of the books they examine at and list the front covers of the book which match your word(s).

Indexes

Alta Vista and HotBot, are two popular search indexes. Indexes regularly and automatically scan the Internet for Web pages and record the HTML content and key words. They also have the ability to follow any links associated with scanned pages and obtain even more information.


Directories/Subject Guides

Yahoo! and Magellan are two well known hierarchical directories of web page subjects. Each reference is entered and updated by a person manually, placing each web address in a certain section much like a telephone company's Yellow Page directory.

  • Too many Search Engines !

    There are hundreds of search tools out there on top of big and popular ones there are specific search services for special interests. Some search email, addresses or phone numbers, or maybe newsgroups only.

    Some search engines like Metafind , are all-in-one and you can enter key words into many engines at once, so that the first set of ten or so of hits of several services are listed on each page.


    » See document: http://www.albany.net/allinone/
     
  • Search Engines sizes

    None of the search engines index everything on the web. No search engine can claim to have a perfect record of everything out there. A good search engine should gather more than a few pages from each web site it visits. The more pages it gathers, the more likely it will have comprehensive index of the web. It should also make regular visits to the web sites in its index. This keeps the index fresh.


    » See document: http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/sizes.html
     
  • .. Better select the most appropriate

    Table - Main search engines

    Search engines

    		URL address

    		 Characteristics

    Altavista

    		 http://www.altavista.com

    		 It is one of the most recent but is the best for scope, speed and effectiveness. Every day it receives something like two million enquires.

    Yahoo

    		 http://www.yahoo.com

    		 Yahoo is both an index and a search engine. The main page allows one to use different search keys; in the index there is also a long list of available subjects. Yahoo is without doubt an excellent site.

    Excite

    		 http://www.excite.com

    		 It limits the number of answers and allows the structuring per site of the results of the search.

    Hot Bot

    		 http://www.hotbot.com

    		 This is one of the most accurate engines as it allows the construction of complex enquiries in an easy way. Limitation in the execution of the search is also possible.

    Lycos

    		 http://www.lycos.com

    		 Lycos is defined as the catalogue of the Internet with its 20 million references which cover about 90% of the Web. It is divided into two sections: the first is for searches, the second is an index of some interesting sites.

    Infoseek

    		 http://www.infoseek.com

    		 Both specific and general enquiries are allowed and the field of research may be progressively refined. It also contains a section of geographical maps.


    If what you are looking for can not be found amongst the first 20 or 30 sites indicated, it would be better to change the type of search or to change the search engine. It is not possible to suggest which search engine should be used first, as such a search is strictly connected to the type of research and to the needs of the individual. However, it is worth beginning with Altavista, HotBot and Excite.


    » See document: http://www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/features.html
     
  • The Virtual Library (VL)

    The VL is the oldest catalog of the web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of html and the web itself. Unlike commercial catalogs, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert; even though it isn't the biggest index of the web, the VL pages are widely recognised as being amongst the highest-quality guides to particular sections of the web.


    » See document: http://vlib.org/Overview.html
     
  • International Relations VL
    » See document: http://www.etown.edu/vl/
     

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