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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Internet Search Tools


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So do you think you are ready to start searching the Internet?

The book (2010, Shelly) states that there are search tools available to help aid you in your endeavors.  Such tools are directories, search engines and metasearch engines.  Directories are designed and created by an average person like you and me.  I understand that these directories have that personal touch and can be geared to what they think the user would like to see.  It is meant to be user-friendlier (and with the complexity of the Internet, who wouldn’t want something easier).  But this is where I get confused.  Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?  With directories, the user is relying on a person (or maybe group of people) to decide what you may want to see and how you may want to see it.  This is the opinion of a few select people.  We have all been around long enough to know that everyone has their own opinion about things, so an established directory may not be for everyone.


Directories also seem like they can be time consuming and risk the chance of containing human error.  Throughout the course we have read that the Internet to constantly changing.  New web pages are being designed on a daily basis and others are going away.  To maintain an accurate and reliable directory would entail constant review and updating. According to the Stanford University 1995-1996 Annual Report (2011, Yang) Yang and Filo  had to employ about 120 people in order to maintain their directories.  Speaking for myself, I know that if I used a directory and found a link that would satisfy my search and clicked on it to read more and received a message saying that the link or site could no longer be found, I just might not use that directory anymore.  Well maybe I would give it a second change with another link, but if I got the same message, that directory would definitely be removed from my favorites

Of course with all of that being said, depending on the search engine the user prefers, one will get a different display of websites.  Search engines are similar to directories; they are just generated using the technology of the computer.  Do you have a preference on what you use or do you utilize them both depending on your search?

References

Shelly, Napier, Rivers  Discovering the Internet  2010
      Course Technology, Cengage Learning, Boston, Massachusetts

Yang & Filo, Stanford Engineering
      1997-2011 Stanford University, Retrieved 20 February 2011 from

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