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Casual Articles - Effective Internet Searching
Offshore incorporations mean anonymity, no or limited liability, high tax exemptions and revenue benefits and asset protection. If you deal in a business that faces too many hassles under your domestic jurisdiction then offshore incorporation under a favorable jurisdiction can be quite fruitful. Many countries have more flexible and lenient business legislation. Therefore incorporating your business online under these legislations takes off a number of legal hassles from your head.Many offshore incorporations involve reduced incorporation and other services fees. This difference is covered through management fees that they collect over investment funds that you deposit with them. Offshore incorporations are invariably technology-based. If you incorporate with the right kind of offshore company, you can amalgamate new age technology with the traditional customer care and personal customer attention. The services can be fat and efficient, and involve services from experienced experts. Moreover, it gives you a global foothold.Offshore incorporations encourage and support new business start-ups, making the process affordable, fast and convenient. Whatever is your business background, whatever may be your way of doing business, you are sure to find an offshore business incorporation that supports your business the best.Offshore incorporations provide web-based and convenient business formation service. It provides personal, efficient and secure business services. With the right kind of offshore incorporation you can protect your assets from lawsuits. It gives you an opportunity to expand your business worldwide with increased privacy. You can open a corporate offshore bank account in a strong, safe and secure institution. There is income tax reduction. In addition your heirs need not pay any inheritance, succession or gift taxes.Offshore incorporations protect your business from inflation and reduce operating expenses. It means a freedom from currency exchange control. You can avail local government concessions, subsidies and support under whose jurisdiction you incorporate your company. You won’t have to pay high international trade tariffs. Therefore you need not file an annual tax return. There are no import/export quantity limitations or costly bureaucracy.Offshore incorporation can actually mean leaps and bounds growth for your business. However, the country of incorporation must be chosen carefully.
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldi
Students with entrepreneurial mindsets begin thinking about starting their own business on the internet as early as high school. Some of the college students are already doing business online, some hugely successful. Why are they targeting the internet? Most students, mainly college students that are thinking more towards entrepreneurship, do not have the financial flexibility to take their ideas to the streets. They have to deal with academics at the same time working on their business project, and internet is the most accessible place to "test the water".Not only is it more affordable compared to any physical business, it's easier to reach out to people to market their products or services. There are billions of internet users around the world, and they can potentially reach even a quarter of a million internet users with just a click of a mouse. With the right marketing strategies, their products or services can get exposed and do business almost instantaneously. This is what most college students overlook and fail.Marketing costs a good sum of money, and that's where most college students get stuck, and eventually fade away. They have all these great ideas, spend a tremendous amount of time to build up a website or coordinate to build a website through a web developer, and they think since it's internet, they will have people that will come to their website and give them business. That's right necessarily true. Just because you have a website and billions of people out there on the internet mean that you will get traffic. Website will need to be marketed somehow, and they don't come cheap. Yes, they can find affordable marketing methods all over Google and Yahoo, but there is a less of a chance that it will be effective to his or her business than it is not. Most likely, he or she will spend more in advertising than actually getting in return (Return on Investment aka ROI). Maybe there won't be any return at all. It is highly unlikely that anyone would get more in return than how much is put into advertising unless one is willing to just put out a couple of thousands or even in the tens of thousands. Even multi-million and multi-billion dollar online businesses lost money in the beginning phase of their business. One must be willing to spend, but for college students, that's almost impossible.If your business is up and running and is doing good, yes, there is a lot of flexibility for you while making money. You can make money while you are sleeping, in class, or just hanging out with your friends. Most of your friends will probably be filing documents, making photocopies, organizing books, or fold clothes part-time to ear their weekl
This module is a comprehensive introduction to web searching methods and techniques. Assuming no prior knowledge, the module will explain ways to find what you are “actually” looking for instead of lots of other interesting links. Searching is easy; finding what you're looking for can sometimes be difficult. Hopefully the advice below will make your next Web Search effective. While three quarters of the Web users of the world cite finding information as their most important use of the Internet, that same percentage also cite their inability to find the information they want as their biggest frustration. The purpose of this module is to help you end that frustration. Staff at ICIMOD also indicated, during training needs assessment, Internet Searching be taken up as a priority topic.
Key topics
Part A : Tools and Effective Searching
1. Overview of the World Wide Web
2. Before Starting the Search
3. Tools for Searching
4. Which Tools should you use
5. Building your Search Strategy
6. Keywords Searching
7. Phrase Searching
8. Boolean search
9. Advanced Search/Field Searching
10. Checking the Results
11. Useful to Know
Part B : References
Part C : Practical Exercise – Lets Start Searching!
Part A
1. Overview of World Wide Web
The Internet isn't just about data; it is an international community of people who share information, interact, and communicate. From the point of view of its users, the Internet is a vast collection of resources--people, information, and multimedia.
The Internet is an inter-connected network of networks, the World Wide Web is the "virtual" web linking these networks. Each machine (or group of machines – example ICIMOD computers connected to the net via V-SAT) on a network has a unique "address" from which it can request and receive information. A Web "browser" is a client program that requests information from other computers which temporarily function as "servers" sending the information upon request. The Web has existed for a long time, but its exponential use and growth began in 1995 when graphical Web browsers (like Netscape, Internet Explorer) became more popular. At ICIMOD, Internet Explorer is the widely used web browser. With these graphical web browsers, the Internet mainly web became “user friendly”, and people began to develop and publish web sites and web pages. Hyperlink is the advantage of the web pages. Hyperlink is the element in a webpage that links to another page/place in the same website or to an entirely different website. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link.
There are billions of web sites on the net. With billions of web pages online, you could spend a lifetime surfing the Web, following links from one page to another. Amusing perhaps, but not very efficient if you are after some specific information. One of the biggest problems we experience is the difficulty of finding targeted/specific information. Where do you start from? Searching
Searching the Internet requires skill, luck and a little bit of art.
2. Before Starting the Search
The easiest way to find information is when you know a web page Internet address
or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) such as ICIMOD home website at http://www.icimod.org
. You can find these addresses on business cards, email signatures, or
newspapers. Simply type the URL in the browser's address box and hit the
3. Tools for Searching
There are many search tools available:
· Web Directories / Virtual Library / Library Gateways
· Search Engines / Meta-search engines
· Deep web databases
‘Web Directories’ (subject directory) are the repositories of useful web sites arranged into a hierarchical, subject-based structure. They require people to view the individual Web site and determine its placement into a subject classification scheme or taxonomy. Once done, certain keywords associated with those sites can be used for searching the directory’s data banks to find Web sites of interest.
For searches that are easily classified, such as vendors of sunglasses, the search directories tend to provide the most consistent and well-clustered results. This advantage is generally limited solely to those classification areas already used in the taxonomy by that service. Yahoo, for example, has about 2,000 classifications (excluding what it calls ‘Regional’ ones, which are a duplication of the major classification areas by geographic region) in its current taxonomy. The Open Directory Project has nearly 590,000 categories and 5,142,051 sites. Some widely used web directories are:
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldis
Looking for work is a roller-coaster ride: high with elation when you think you've found a great position, low with discouragement when you realize that someone else was offered a job you wanted.Most of the time, you fall somewhere in between, your mood cycling from cautious optimism to keen disappointment. You try to conceal the inner turmoil, turning a brave face to the world, trying to convince everyone that you are "just fine."For the sake of your health and your sanity, try these approaches:1. Identify someone who is willing to be a sounding board for you: your significant other, a fellow job seeker, a career counselor, a good friend. Explain that you need someone to help you express the feelings inside and gain a better understanding of what is happening to you emotionally. Then talk to them, for a few minutes. You don't want to become a burden and your listener is not a paid therapist. Ten minutes of honest revelation and analysis a few times per week can help you avoid ulcers, family fights growing out of your frustration, self-isolation, and will free up the energy it takes to hold everything in. That is energy you need to conserve for job search.2. Start a journal, if you don't already have one. Chronicle your activities, how you feel while doing them, and how you feel afterwards. Watch the patterns of your emotions so that you can start to predict when something is going to be stressful and uncomfortable. Schedule a fun activity afterwards to help you regain your balance. If certain activities make you feel buoyant and hopeful, concentrate on increasing such activities throughout the week.3. Approach interviews with the thought that each one is really only practice for the perfect position you will eventually find. Perform as well as you can without investing your sense of worth in one person's decision. If it takes a hundred interviews to secure a job, each "No" you receive brings you one step closer to that final "Yes" you are seeking and therefore every step on the road to unemployment is worthwhile and "rejection" no longer belongs in your vocabulary.Acknowledging the pressures and emotional swings of unemployment and job search will help you look at the situation more objectively and allow you to continue to function in other important areas of your life, those not connected with work or income.
Part B : References
Part C : Practical Exercise – Lets Start Searching!
Part A
1. Overview of World Wide Web
The Internet isn't just about data; it is an international community of people who share information, interact, and communicate. From the point of view of its users, the Internet is a vast collection of resources--people, information, and multimedia.
The Internet is an inter-connected network of networks, the World Wide Web is the "virtual" web linking these networks. Each machine (or group of machines – example ICIMOD computers connected to the net via V-SAT) on a network has a unique "address" from which it can request and receive information. A Web "browser" is a client program that requests information from other computers which temporarily function as "servers" sending the information upon request. The Web has existed for a long time, but its exponential use and growth began in 1995 when graphical Web browsers (like Netscape, Internet Explorer) became more popular. At ICIMOD, Internet Explorer is the widely used web browser. With these graphical web browsers, the Internet mainly web became “user friendly”, and people began to develop and publish web sites and web pages. Hyperlink is the advantage of the web pages. Hyperlink is the element in a webpage that links to another page/place in the same website or to an entirely different website. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link.
There are billions of web sites on the net. With billions of web pages online, you could spend a lifetime surfing the Web, following links from one page to another. Amusing perhaps, but not very efficient if you are after some specific information. One of the biggest problems we experience is the difficulty of finding targeted/specific information. Where do you start from? Searching
Searching the Internet requires skill, luck and a little bit of art.
2. Before Starting the Search
The easiest way to find information is when you know a web page Internet address
or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) such as ICIMOD home website at http://www.icimod.org
. You can find these addresses on business cards, email signatures, or
newspapers. Simply type the URL in the browser's address box and hit the
3. Tools for Searching
There are many search tools available:
· Web Directories / Virtual Library / Library Gateways
· Search Engines / Meta-search engines
· Deep web databases
‘Web Directories’ (subject directory) are the repositories of useful web sites arranged into a hierarchical, subject-based structure. They require people to view the individual Web site and determine its placement into a subject classification scheme or taxonomy. Once done, certain keywords associated with those sites can be used for searching the directory’s data banks to find Web sites of interest.
For searches that are easily classified, such as vendors of sunglasses, the search directories tend to provide the most consistent and well-clustered results. This advantage is generally limited solely to those classification areas already used in the taxonomy by that service. Yahoo, for example, has about 2,000 classifications (excluding what it calls ‘Regional’ ones, which are a duplication of the major classification areas by geographic region) in its current taxonomy. The Open Directory Project has nearly 590,000 categories and 5,142,051 sites. Some widely used web directories are:
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldi
Today I would like to explore some reasons why a prospective customer may not buy from you. Aside from the normal window shopper, or browser that is just bored and is just looking for the lack of something better to do at the moment. Of course we are looking at these as reasons that apply to your on-line business, however I am sure you will see how they could also apply to an off-line store/business as well. So let’s take a look.1. You are not establishing a feeling of safety when your customer wants to place an order. Keep in mind that this is the internet and you will need to have reminders in the form of seals from known on-line security systems that will put your customers at ease. Always, let me repeat that, ALWAYS have the statement posted that you will keep all their information confidential and that you would never sell, rent, or share their e-mail address with anyone.2. Your ad copy does not flow fluently and is not pleasing to the eye. Your headline is not attractive to your intended targeted audience. You have not included any testimonials or guarantees in your ad.3. You have not suggested that your visitors bookmark your page for their convenience in order to make their return visit easier, nor have you wished them a nice day. Since most people do not make a purchase on their first visit, always suggest that they return and give them the opportunity to sign up for your free e-zine or e-mail announcement program to keep them up to date on any changes or new offers at your site.4. You set up your website without putting an About Us tab in your navigation bar. To make yourself more professional and trustworthy you must have this section. You will need to state your qualifications in your line of business, including years of experience, your company policy on sales and returns, customer satisfaction and your contact information. These things will put your customers at ease and will feel more comfortable doing business with you since they will have a sense of who you are and feel as though they actually know you, and more importantly trust you.5. You have very limited forms of payment choices for your customers convenience, and you do not have alternate choices for ordering. You will find that even if you have made your site as secure as possible some people would rather order from you via, mail order, phone orders, fax orders, or e-mail orders. So implement as many of these methods as possible and remember in today’s world it is a must that you accept credit cards either through a merchant account or PayPal, or other respected on-line money processors.6. You have not taken enough time to make your web site look professional. Yo
There are billions of web sites on the net. With billions of web pages online, you could spend a lifetime surfing the Web, following links from one page to another. Amusing perhaps, but not very efficient if you are after some specific information. One of the biggest problems we experience is the difficulty of finding targeted/specific information. Where do you start from? Searching
Searching the Internet requires skill, luck and a little bit of art.
2. Before Starting the Search
The easiest way to find information is when you know a web page Internet address
or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) such as ICIMOD home website at http://www.icimod.org
. You can find these addresses on business cards, email signatures, or
newspapers. Simply type the URL in the browser's address box and hit the
3. Tools for Searching
There are many search tools available:
· Web Directories / Virtual Library / Library Gateways
· Search Engines / Meta-search engines
· Deep web databases
‘Web Directories’ (subject directory) are the repositories of useful web sites arranged into a hierarchical, subject-based structure. They require people to view the individual Web site and determine its placement into a subject classification scheme or taxonomy. Once done, certain keywords associated with those sites can be used for searching the directory’s data banks to find Web sites of interest.
For searches that are easily classified, such as vendors of sunglasses, the search directories tend to provide the most consistent and well-clustered results. This advantage is generally limited solely to those classification areas already used in the taxonomy by that service. Yahoo, for example, has about 2,000 classifications (excluding what it calls ‘Regional’ ones, which are a duplication of the major classification areas by geographic region) in its current taxonomy. The Open Directory Project has nearly 590,000 categories and 5,142,051 sites. Some widely used web directories are:
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldi
I recently received an interesting e-mail from a gentleman in the UK asking if marketing partnerships really work. He had approached a number of potential partners and many expressed interest in forming partnership, yet nothing got done.There seems to be quite a bit of interest right now in marketing partnerships. It is about time. Businesses can set up and implement very successful partnerships, but the process is long-term. Partnerships do not generally produce significant results quickly.What A Marketing Partnership IsA marketing partnership involves two or more professionals, companies or salespeople who have common prospects, similar marketing needs, and possibly complementary services. These entities join forces for mutual marketing and sales, usually within a specific market sector or for specific prospects. This does not mean they lose their individual identity. More than likely, each will continue to market and sell outside the partnership.Marketing activities may involve: • Creating joint marketing materials • Joint direct mail, e-mail or advertising campaigns • Joint sales calls • Referring of prospects • Possibly even combining services, talents and assets to create new servicesAn example of a potential marketing partnership would be an accountant, estate attorney, financial planner, and insurance agent. By combining forces, these professionals can, at least in theory, coordinate and help guide an individual’s affairs without the potential of conflict, jealousy, or competition. And, again, each individual professional benefits from wider exposure, more referrals, and marketing that is more efficient.Virtually every professional and company has opportunities to create marketing partnerships. Although the most visible partnerships involve large, publicly traded companies, partnerships offer tremendous potential for even the smallest of companies or single practitioners.What A Marketing Partnership Is NotA marketing partnership is neither a quick fix for sales problems, nor a way to eliminate the burden of marketing and sales.Although some marketing partnerships may be elaborate formal legal entities, most, especially with smaller companies and individual practitioners, are informal devices that enhance each partner’s marketing reach--their combined efforts allow both partners to meet prospects' needs they may not have otherwise been able to meet individually.In a partnership both parties must assume responsibility for marketing the joint venture. A partner who expects to ride the back of the other partner will quickly find himself alone.When considering a partnership
3. Tools for Searching
There are many search tools available:
· Web Directories / Virtual Library / Library Gateways
· Search Engines / Meta-search engines
· Deep web databases
‘Web Directories’ (subject directory) are the repositories of useful web sites arranged into a hierarchical, subject-based structure. They require people to view the individual Web site and determine its placement into a subject classification scheme or taxonomy. Once done, certain keywords associated with those sites can be used for searching the directory’s data banks to find Web sites of interest.
For searches that are easily classified, such as vendors of sunglasses, the search directories tend to provide the most consistent and well-clustered results. This advantage is generally limited solely to those classification areas already used in the taxonomy by that service. Yahoo, for example, has about 2,000 classifications (excluding what it calls ‘Regional’ ones, which are a duplication of the major classification areas by geographic region) in its current taxonomy. The Open Directory Project has nearly 590,000 categories and 5,142,051 sites. Some widely used web directories are:
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldi
When we were young children, our parents were the most powerful figures in the universe.When a parent talked, we listened. Or at least we were supposed to.Parents are a bridge between generations. Parents are supposed to hand down valuable teachings and cultural guidance.Unfortunately, most parents don’t teach their children the language of business. Most parents don’t even know about the “Language of Success.”How could they know? Their parents didn’t teach them, and it certainly isn’t taught in our schools.When it comes to effective communication, the training our parents were equipped to give us may have actually put up a roadblock to business success.Let me explain.There are three rules of communication that we were taught by our parents. In any language, these three rules contain the same cultural message. They are intended to keep a child out of harm’s way and/or out of the hair of grownups.Here are the three rules:Rule 1. Never speak to strangers. Rule 2. Don’t speak unless spoken to. Rule 3. You should be seen and not heard.Isn’t this what you were told?These rules would seem to stand in the way of unfettered business success.You can easily see how these communications guidelines might hinder your ability to make new contacts and promote your business. By their very nature, these rules are not intended to make you more effective in your marketing, sales or other business activities.Networking is all about meeting strangers and creating new relationships.Speaking before you're spoken to is the primary function of marketing.Marketing is about making people, primarily strangers, aware of your product, service, or expertise.Don't get me wrong. These are great rules for young kids. However, these rules are just not that useful in the world of business.The “never speak to strangers” rule may have a lot to do with the fact that speaking in public ranks first on the list of human fears. Well, why not? Most of the “public” are strangers.The “Language of Success” encourages you to speak to strangers. The Language of Success provides you with guidelines that will help you say the right thing and ask the right question at the right time.For those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to communicate with one or both of our parents, ask them for permission to speak to strangers. Tell your mom and/or your dad that your business might depend on it.Copyright 2006 Ike Krieger
Google™ Directory (http://directory.google.com/)
Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://www.dmoz.org/) – the biggest web directory
Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
Zeal (http://www.zeal.com/)
Virtual library is a web directory that includes highly selective links, chosen mostly by librarians. Use library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content. Popular virtual libraries include:
Librarians' Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/)
Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/)
The WWW Virtual Library (http://www.vlib.org/)
CIDA’s Virtual Library on International Development is a collection of links to international development-related sites and documents on the Internet. http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/Virtual.nsf
Funded by Danida and Sida and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, Eldis offers a large collection of resources for 40 development-related sectors http://www.eldis.org/
SD Gateway contains over 1200 documents relating to sustainable development, NGOs http://sdgateway.net/
Mountain Forum’s Online Library, www.mtnforum.org/resources/ for articles and publications on global mountain issues
Search engines index each work within all or part of documents. When you pose a query to a search engine, it matches your query works against the records it has in its databases to present a listing of possible documents meeting your request. Search engines are best for searches in more difficult topic areas or those which fall into the gray areas between the subject classifications used by directories. But, search engines are stupid, and can only give you what you ask for. You can sometimes get thousands of documents matching a query. Also, at best, even the biggest search engines only index a small fraction of the Internet’s documents.
It is important to remember that when you are using a search engine, you are NOT searching the entire web as it exists at this moment. You are actually searching a portion of the web, captured in a fixed index created at an earlier date.
Popular search engines currently are:
Google™ (http://www.google.com/)
Teoma (http://www.teoma.com/)
AltaVista (http://www.altavista.com/)
Meta-search engines do not crawl the web compiling their own searchable databases. Instead, they search the databases of multiple sets of individual search engines simultaneously, from a single site and using the same interface. Meta-searchers provide a quick way of finding out which engines are retrieving the best results for you in your search
Deep web (or invisible web or hidden web databases) is the name given to pages on the World Wide Web that are not indexed by conventional search engines. It consists of pages which are not linked to by other pages, such as Dynamic Web pages. Dynamic Web pages are basically searchable databases that deliver Web pages generated just in response to a query.
4. Which Tools You Should Use
If you're looking for specific information, use search engines (e.g. paper presented on biodiversity in 2005 ABCD conference. You would also use a keyword search for obscure subjects, cross-category searches (e.g. mountain and GIS, environment and soil)
If you're looking for general information on popular topics, use subject (web) directories. You could also use in cases, where you do not know any keywords related to a subject
Use virtual library/Library gateways when you are looking for high quality information sites on the Web. You can be fairly certain that these sites have been reviewed and evaluated by subject specialists for their accuracy and content.
If you're looking for a unique or obscure search term or if you want to make an in-depth analysis of what's out there in the Web on a specific subject, then use metasearch engines.
If you're looking for real-time information or for dynamically changing content such as the latest news, phone book listings, available airline flights, etc., then use deep databases (invisible or deep web.)
5. Building Your Search Strategy
Your ability to find the information you seek on the Internet is a function of how precise your queries are and how effectively you use search services. Poor queries return poor results; good queries return great results. Search results are only as good as the query you pose and how you search. There is no silver bullet.
The information professionals at the University of California at Berkeley recommend a graduated approach to Web searching. Here is their stepwise sequence of steps to follow, which we generally endorse for beginning searchers:
1. ANALYZE your topic to decide where to begin
2. Pick the right starting place
3. Learn as you go & VARY your approach with what you learn
4. Don't bog down in any strategy that doesn't work
5. Return to previous strategies better informed.
As you gain experience, you can begin cutting out the middle steps. By the time you’re doing real heavy lifting with your queries, you really only need spend some time first getting your query right and then cutting to the bottom line with a full Boolean search using phrases and three or so concepts linked through the AND operator and multiple search engines.
Following these guidelines, here are recommended steps to approaching the Internet search challenge:
· Spend time BEFORE your search to analyze what it is you’re looking for
· Use nouns in your queries – the who/what, when, where, how and why; avoid conjunctions, verbs, adverbs and adjectives
· Use keywords at the right “level” of specificity: precise, but not overly restrictive
· Use phrases where natural; they are your most powerful weapon
· Use structured (“Boolean”) syntax, especially
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