searching

This week we explore search engines.
After reading about various search engines and the algorithms they use, I came away realising I am a lazy searcher. I have since been more conscious about what search engine i'm using and are employing better search techniques - using advanced searches, domains and " " more often than I used to and adding the - where appropriate!

Using a site such as Beaucoup can be advantageous in choosing the right search engine for the job .... but even though the 3 click rule has been dispelled, a one stop search shop like google does have appeal to the lazy searcher.

To test how well some search engines performed, a search on term "volcanoes school" was done. It was an enlightening. I tested different search engines gathered from the beaucope site but many of the results very very unpromising despite some being supposed to be educational search engines.

I enjoyed watching the videos on the knowledge 2.0 Livebinder site and spent a lot of time exploring different aspects of this site and the websites and information attached. I highly recommend it to everyone!

My favourite 'new' (to me) search engine is Wolfram Alpha - i like facts and calculations (though would have liked to know more about where they pull individual information from.

I guess the main point is that there are many different search engines and as an information professional you need to be aware of what's out there and hone your information and searching skills all the time......

no more lazy searching people