Web index

A web index is designed to assist users with locating information on the world wide web. Web
indexes are also sometimes referred to as a catalogues or directories. A web index collects and
organises resources available via the World Wide Web.
The method of organisation, as well as other features , may vary from one index to the next.
Some indexes may present information alphabetically, others may take a topical approach.
Topical indexes often present their resources in a hierarchical arrangement, moving from the
general to the more specific.
Web indexes use hypertext to present their lists of resources, which facilitates browsing. Most
web indexes allow users to not only to identify a particular resource of interest, but also actually
link directly to the resource from the index.
ue to the vast amount of information available via the web, no single index can possibly
contain links to every resource. !owever, web indexes can include hundreds, even thousands, of
resources. "ecause some web indexes list so many resources, they provide a search capability to
help users locate resources within the index.
How do resources end up in a web index?
Some web indexes use automated methods or tools but most involve human intervention.
Some of the more well known web indexes are#
$ahoo
WWW virtual library
TradeWave %alaxy
$anoff&s 'nternet Services (ist
The Argus )learinghouse
Magellan
*oint
Web search engine
A web search engine is an interactive tool to help people locate information available via the
world wide web. Web search engines are actually databases that contain references to thousands
of resources. +sers are able to interact with the database, submitting ,ueries that ask the database
if it contains resources that match specific criteria.
A web search engine provides an interface between the user and the underlying database. The
interface presents the user with a place to type in a search string, which may be a word, phrase,
date or some other criterion, and a way to submit the re,uest.
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The web search engine runs the search string against the database, returns the list of resources
that match the criteria, and displays the results for the user.
Some of the most common search engines are#
Alta vista
-xcite
Web)rawler
(ycos
.pentext
'nfoseek
$ahoo
/lighte/
'nternet Sleuth
How do resources end up in a search engines database?
Most web search engines use automated tools and programs to gather resources. These tools,
often referred to as worms, spiders, crawlers and robots, search thousands of web sites
worldwide, collect information, and store the information in the database.
-ach web search engine provides its own database, interface, and special features. A search
engines database cannot possibly contain every piece of information that is on the WWW,
therefore, search results will not include every available web resource.
Web Meta-Searcher
A Web meta searcher is a tool that helps users locate information available via the World Wide
Web. Web meta0searchers provide a single interface that enables users to search many different
search engines, indexes and databases simultaneously. There are a number of web meta0
searchers available.
"ecause the content of search engines, indexes and databases vary, the same ,uery typed into
several search engines is likely to produce different results. When searching a topic, users often
want to see results from various sources. .ne way to compare the results of several search
engines is to type and retype a ,uery into individual search engines one at a time. This can be
very time consuming.
A meta searcher helps to make this task more efficient by providing a central location where the
,uery is typed in once, and results can be obtained from multiple search engines. Meta searchers
do not provide a database. They provide a service that sends a single ,uery to multiple databases.
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-xamples of web meta searchers include#
All in one search
) l net
)yberlands Web
)+S'
-lectric library
-ureka
SavvySearch
*ro1usion
Meta)rawler
Search Functions
Boolean Searching: This allows terms to be put into logical groups by the use of connective
terms. 1or example, 2cats A/ dogs3 narrows a search while 2cats .4 dogs3 broadens a search.
Field Searching: Web pages are made up of many parts, including title, +4(, text of the page,
links from the page, images on the page etx. Some search engines allow these fields to be
searched. )ombining these field searches in one search can help the user to greatly increase the
relevance of the retrieved items, as well as allow searching for specific information such as how
many other pages link to a certain page.
Keyword in Context: These searches will return the keyword and 5/& words near the keyword to
give the user the context in which the keyword was found.
Phrase Searching # This allows searching of phrases when available.
Proximity Searching # This allows searching of one term within 5/& words of another term,
narrowing the search.
ele!ance "eedbac# : Attempts to measure how closely the retrieval matches the ,uery.
$runcation searching : Allows searching of different word endings or plurals with the use of a
truncation wild card symbol.
Altavista
Alta6ista is the premier search engine on the web. 't has the largest, most inclusive indices.
Alta6ista, however, returns consistently useful information, but since no editorial decisions have
been made regrading content, it also has the largest 2noise to signal3 ratio.
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Alta6ista allows searching of both the web and many +senet /ewgroups. 't allows control of the
result lists in a standard, compact, and detailed format. 't provides both simple and advanced
searches.
Simple Search using AltaVista
1or an effective search, it is best to enter as many search terms or phrases which exactly ,ualify
the sub7ect in which you are interested.
Case Sensiti!ity 8 Search terms entered in lower case letters are case insensitive. The use of
capitalised terms makes the term case sensitive.
Phrases % To group search terms into phrases, include them in double ,uotes. 26isual "asic3
finds occurrences of the name 6isual "asic, capitalised in 7ust that way. Another way to link
words into phrases is to insert punctuation between them # visual9"asic9Active:9)ontrols.
e&uired terms % 'n order to include one of your terms in the document being indexed, preface it
with a ;symbol# ;*ower"uilder.
Prohibited terms % To prohibit the inclusion of a term from a document for which you are
searching, prepend it with a 8symbol# 0*ower"uilder
'ildCards 8 With simple ,ueries you are allowed to enter a wildcard character at the end of
phrases which will substitute for any combination of letters. The asterisk is Alta6ista&s wildcard
character.
an#ings % Alta6ista will assign a confidence ranking to the hist it returns based on the
following
The ,uery terms are found in the first few words of the document
The ,uery terms are found in close proximity to one another in the document
The document contains more of the search terms than other documents.
Advanced Searches
Advanced searches include all the features of simple ones. The same rules for capitalisation,
phrases, wildcards, re,uired<prohibited terms, apply to advanced ,ueries and in addition, the use
of boolean searching, proximity operators, and logical groupings with parentheses are allowed.
=i> "oolean and proximity searching 8 Alta6ista supports the use of the binary operators A/,
.4, /-A4 and the unary operator /.T. $ou may use the following symbols in place of the
words#
?=A/>
@=.4>
A=/-A4>
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B=/.T>
=ii>C't is a very good idea to use the words rather than the symbols, since the words are easier to
remember and common to other search engines. $ou may enter the operators in lower or upper
case letters, but it is probably best to use uppercase to make them stand out from ordinary search
terms and make the logic of the search more apparent.
cats A/ dogs
26isual "asic3 A/ 2Active:3
=iii> 4esults ranking 8 with advanced searches you may also specify keywords you wish
Alta6sita to use in order to confidence rank your results. 'n Alta6ista, you can specify whether
you want to search the web or the newsgroups. $ou can also specify the language in which you
want the search to be limited. To make the search more efficient, click on the map of the world
to use the Alta6ista Search /etwork Server )losest to you.
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