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Newsgroups: alt.journalism.newspapers
Subject: Web and Internet Search Engine FAQ
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 17:05:04 GMT
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(WISE FAQ (copyright) 1997-1998-1999)
Copyright 1997-1998-1999 Ken Bogucki
[email protected]
WISE FAQ (c) Ver. 4.0 Dec. 1999
==============================
*** A FREE Windows 95/98 Search Engine Help File and Tutorial is
available at
http://infobasic.com
*** Infobasic has set up a new and greatly expanded list of search and
search engine resources at
http://infobasic.com/sengine/index.shtml
Please feel free to submit appropriate URLs to the directory
*** An expanded HTML version of this FAQ is available at
http://infobasic.com
*** Infobasic has also created a number of easily searched databases:
International Organizations, Think Tanks, USA University and Public
libraries.
==============================
All email queries, complaints or corrections to
[email protected]
COPYRIGHT
This FAQ is copyrighted material. The copyright is owned by the
author of this FAQ, Ken Bogucki
[email protected] This FAQ may
not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, for
commercial purposes without the express written permission of the
author. This FAQ may be used for non-commercial purposes as long
as the author is notified in advance and the entire FAQ is used
without alterations (except for formatting purposes) and the
copyright notice & warranty notice remain intact and a part of
the FAQ.
WARRANTY.
This FAQ is an AS-IS document.
REFERENCE CARD
The double brackets [] in the reference card are not part of the
query syntax.
****
ALTA VISTA
http://www.altavista.digital.com
[apples "orange juice"] "apples" or the phrase "orange juice"
[+apples -"orange juice"] "apples" & not the phrase
"orangejuice"
[app* (wildcard)] "apples", "applets", "appraise"
(wildcard in Alta Vista requires Min. of three letters before the
wildcard and will return from 0-5 characters Max.)
Complex Searches (Can use either logical word or symbol
expressions)
AND or &, OR or |, AND NOT or !, NEAR or ~
[apple AND orange] "apple" & the word "orange"
[apple OR orange] "apple" or the word "orange"
[apples AND NOT oranges] "apples" but not the word "oranges"
[apple NEAR juice] "juice" within ten words of "apple"
RESTRICTING A SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SEARCH
[anchor:click-here] pages with "click-here" in the
hyperlink.
[applet:<java class>] pages with the Java class in the
applet tag
[domain:xyz] pages in the domain "xyz"
[host:xyz.com] sites at the host name xyz.com.
[image:a.jpg] sites with an image tag, "a.jpg".
[link:xyz.com] sites with a link to xyz.com.
[text:orange] sites with "orange" in the visible
text
[title:"A, B and C"] sites with "A, B and C" in the title.
RANKING
Simple searches: The ranking is automatic.
Complex searches: Enter any word or groups of words in the
ranking window. Alta Vista will sort the results based on these
words.
****
EXCITE
http://www.excite.com
Concept Based Search
[+apples +pears] "apples" and "pears"
[-apples +peach] "peach" but not "apples"
[+apples -pears -berries] "apples" but not "peaches" or
"berries"
Exact match queries use Logical Word Expressions to find Web
documents. The Logical Word Operator are: AND, OR, AND NOT.
Using logical word expressions will turn off Excite's concept
based option. Precise searches require the use of Logical Word
Operators.
[apples AND peaches] pages with "apples" and "peaches"
[apples OR peaches] pages with either "apples" or
"peaches"
[apples AND NOT peaches] pages with "apples" but not
with"peaches"
****
LYCOS
http://www.lycos.com
STANDARD SEARCH
Standard searches do not use logical word operators.
[apples oranges peaches] pages where any of the words appear
[apples +berries] "apples" and "berries"
[apples -berries] "apples" but not "berries"
CUSTOM SEARCHES
Complex searches are done through an intuitive menu interface.
****
WEBCRAWLER
http://www.webcrawler.com
[apples oranges or apples OR oranges] pages that contain any of
the words.
[apples AND oranges] "apples" and "oranges"
[fruit NOT apples] "fruit" but not "apples"
[cheese NEAR/(x) wine] "wine" is within "x" words of
"cheese"
[world ADJ war] "world" & "war" are next to each
other
[".. " Phrases searches] "us army", "jack and jill went up the
hill"
[(..)] used to organize search expressions
****
Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com
Advanced Options:
[apples +oranges] "apples" as well as "oranges"
[apples -oranges] "apples" but not with "oranges".
[t:] confines the search to certain Web
titles.
[u:] confines the search to certain URLs.
[" "] phrase operator "orange juice", "apple juice", etc.
[pea* (wildcard)] "pears", "peas", "peaches" etc.
****
Infoseek
http://www.infoseek.com
Simple Searches
[apples oranges] either "apples" or "oranges".
[+apples oranges] "apples", pages with "oranges" are
ranked lower.
["apple juice"] "apple" and "juice" appear next to
each other.
Caps are used to indicate proper names and a case sensitive
search:
[Johnny Appleseed] will find the name "Johnny Appleseed".
[Johnny,Appleseed] will find either name.
Note: commas are only used to separate names.
[apples -grapes] "apples" but not "grapes".
Complex Searches
[fruit | apple | juice] will find "fruit" then search results
for "apple" then search those results for "juice".
[title:fruit] "fruit" in the title of the page.
[url:www.orange.com] sites with address "www.orange.com".
[url:fruit] sites with "fruit" in the URL,
"www.fruit.com" or "www.fruitandnuts.com".
[link:www.juice.com] will find sites linked to the
specified URL
[site:xyz.com] will find all sites at the specified
address.
****
Contact Information
Ken Bogucki
[email protected]
http://www.infobasic.com/
END WISE FAQ (c)
=========================
