Explains human search engines, also known as online advisors, knowledge networks, interactive Q&A (question & answer), or people portals, which are all Web sites where you can ask questions and receive personal responses. Provides examples of different types, some of which are free, including the Internet Public Library, and some which…

Outlines a panel discussion that examined document genres in relation to the World Wide Web, including the history of genre; "The Concept of Genere in the Humanities" (Clare Beghtol); "Genre and Form: How Users Recognize Genre" (Elaine G. Toms); and "Identifying Document Genre to Improve Web Search Effectiveness (Kevin…

Compares and contrasts results from two previous studies of Excite queries' data sets and examines how public Web searching changed during that period. Results show shorter queries; fewer queries per user; viewing fewer pages of results per query; an increase in Boolean operators; and more commercial searching topics. (LRW)

Discusses how to find digital images on the Web. Considers images and copyright; provides an overview of the search capabilities of six search engines, including AltaVista, Google, AllTheWeb.com, Ditto.com, Picsearch, and Lycos; and describes specialized image search engines. (LRW)

Discussion of information agents that search the Web on behalf of users focuses on ARIS, a shell for constructing information agents without coding that is similar to expert system shells. Searching is guided by knowledge about how pages on particular Web sites in a given domain are typically organized. (Author/LRW)

Describes the field search capabilities of selected Web search engines (AltaVista, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, Yahoo!) and includes a chart outlining what fields (date, title, URL, images, audio, video, links, page depth) are searchable, where to go on the page to search them, the syntax required (if any), and how field search queries are entered.…

Provides directions for developing search strategies to be used on the World Wide Web and with gopher on the Internet. (JOW)

Discusses file transfer protocol (FTP) servers for downloading archives (files with particular file extensions), and the change to HTTP (Hypertext transfer protocol) with increased Web use. Topics include the Archie server; proxy cache servers; and how to improve the hit rate of archives by a combination of caching and better searching mechanisms.…

Reports results from a survey that explored users' information searching behavior on the EXCITE Web search engine over time on the same or evolving topic. Discusses search topics, intended query terms, search frequency, demographic data, and implications for the design of Web search services. A copy of the survey is appended. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study of four major Web search engines that tested for staleness, a condition when a significant number of the hits it returns point to Web pages or server-level domains (SLD) that are no longer viable. Results of tests of URLs with AltaVista, HotBot, InfoSeek, and Open Text are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the role of search engines in Web usability and analyzes and evaluates the retrieval effectiveness of various indexing and searching strategies on a new Web text collection. Highlights include preprocessing techniques that might improve retrieval effectiveness; and hyperlinks as useful sources of evidence in improving retrieval…

Investigates problems of using commercial search engines for Web-based research. Findings indicate that search engines are highly variable in their results, are limited in the search functions they offer, have poorly and/or incorrectly documented functions, use search logics that are opaque, and change search functions they offer over time.…

Discussion of citation analysis on the Web considers Web hyperlinks as a source to analyze citations. Topics include basic graph theory applied to Web pages, including matrices, linear algebra, and Web topology; and hubs and authorities, including a search technique called HITS (Hyperlink Induced Topic Search). (Author/LRW)

Presents a chart that explains the search syntax, features, and commands used by the 12 most widely used general Web search engines. Discusses Web standardization, expanded types of content searched, size of databases, and search engines that include both simple and advanced versions. (LRW)

Explains search engines that are used on the World Wide Web to find information on the Internet. Highlights include eight search engines with information on how to find the help screen; four "spiders" that conduct searches of several search engines; and four online sites for learning more about using search engines. (LRW)