your net:// The world at a keystroke

It's out there, but finding it can be confusing. PETER SINCLAIR explains the ABC of search engines.

The internet is the biggest haystack of all time. Forget about needles - when you're a newbie, locating an elephant in it can take some doing.

In billions of pages of information, Einstein's Theory and Murphy's Law have exactly equal merit as far as most search engines are concerned.

But don't be intimidated - a few quick 'n' dirty search techniques will soon get your searches smoking. You should be able to find just about anything you need on the net, no matter how obscure, in 60 seconds or less.

Most engines work in roughly the same way, sending out busy "spiders," small programmes that dart through the web logging the links between documents. The results are stored by keyword in vast databases accessible to surfers. Among today's most popular engines are Google, AltaVista, HotBot, and Yahoo.

Take the time to acquire a few basic search skills. The problem is that different engines often have slightly different rules, so it's best to stick to a couple of powerful favourites (Google and AltaVista are mine) and master them thoroughly, with a few others for specialised searches such as graphics and sound files.

Reaching into the mailbag at random, here's Mark Turney: "I would appreciate research information on great websites locally and internationally for the moviegoer."

Simply entering "movies" into most engines will yield results, but Mark might want to be more specific. Easiest is to add + or - to an additional search term - Pavlova+cake will bring up the dessert rather than the dancer.

Mathematician George Boole (1815-1864) can help us to reach the next level. I don't want to baffle and bore you with Boolean commands, but you do need a working knowledge to get the best out of engines.

Basically, Boolean logic will find all the words you know must appear on the page you're looking for. They boil down to and, and not and or.

And finds all the specified words - Pavlova and cake.

And not excludes an item - Pavlova and not cake.

Or finds at least one of the terms - Pavlova or cake will find everything with one or the other.

Near will find both terms within 10 words of each other - Pavlova near cake would find documents with our national delicacy but probably not any other cake.

Use brackets to group more complex phrases - (Pavlova and cake) and (kiwifruit and not strawberries) will try to find your pav exactly the way you want it.

At the Bollean logic link below, you'll find several other useful commands such as url:pavlova to find pages with a specific word in their URL (universal resource locator, or web address), in this case a Usenet recipe at http://obi.std.com/obi/Usenet. Cookbook/pavlova-2. Be sure to check out "Help," "Tips" or "Advanced Search" on any unfamiliar vehicle to find out what you're dealing with.

For instance, try typing mute, inglorious Milton into Google. There, at the top of the list, is the full text - in an authentic 18th century format (www.wmich.edu/english/tchg/lit/pms/Gray. Elegy.html) - of Thomas Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Bullseye!

Now do the same thing in AltaVista. Top of the list is the mute, inglorious Milton H. Erickson Foundation (www.erickson-foundation.org), which offers, among other treats, the 8th International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychoptherapy (sic). No sign at all of Thomas Gray or the great author of Paradise Lost.

Now type the same words in quotes, to unite them. There's our reference, but in 8th place below some junk. So add: AND Elegy AND Gray and search again. Now you've found everything you need, and also used Boolean search terms for the first time.

You have also, not incidentally, demonstrated why Google is such a powerful friend.

Remember, too, that all engines have different databases and rank their finds according to different rules. That's why it's important to use more than one - "metasearching" with multiple search-engines can really beef up your search by hitching two or more together to deal with the same query.

Other engines use what's called "fuzzy logic." Among fuzzy engines you might try is Ask Jeeves, which accepts direct queries ("Tell me what fuzzy logic is"), SearchNZ, Oingo and WebCheck, an EEC resource which lives on your desktop for quick drag 'n' drop searches.

On the whole, your best bet is to stay with Big Search - the engines with millions of pages under their belts (Google has well over a billion) - or try some of the others listed on this page.

If all else fails, of course, you can always ask us here - inbox@herald.co.nz.

Links:

Google

AltaVista

HotBot

Yahoo!

Boolean logic

Fuzzy logic

Ask Jeeves

SearchNZ

Oingo

Web Check