This page was built to support a workshop to teach college students smart searching. The questions and answers presented here are general. The world of search engine technology changes so fast, always check websites like searchenginewatch.com for up to date information on the search engine industry/discipline. ALWAYS verify the time stamp and source of any web page that purports to provide you with information you are seeking. (including this one!)
There are many types of search "engines." For information on what companies own which engines, take a look at the chart at Searchenginewatch called "Who Powers Whom? Search Providers Chart."
Once again, the answer is, "It depends." For the purposes of this discussion, we will talk about how google works--in a very small nutshell. Google uses their own proprietary PageRank™ technology, which gauges a web page's popularity based on on a number of factors including:
Be aware that all engines also return advertising links as well as authentic links--including Google. Google is good because it clearly labels the two making a clear distinction between what some call "church and state."
Here is a link just for fun: Google's PigeonRank
For the record, every search engine is different and has different assumptions. Some engines will understand spaces between words as AND and others as OR (not as common). Google has a great search tips page and an exhaustive list of their supported modifiers.
| " " | exact phrase |
| + | Required word in results |
| - | Omit this word from results |
| ~ | Find synonyms for this word |
| OR | Either this OR that |
| ... | number range $20...25 |
Two reasons:
Google Scholar is an attempt to enable web users to search scholarly content in the way that has long been possible in an academic library. The tool finds links to pertinent articles, books and technical papers and even provides the citations from other works in the databases. Essentially, Google Scholar is using its PageRank™ technology to search a number of scholarly publisher's data stores--but Google does not list the specifics. The "About Google Scholar" page does not list the participating publishers. Scholar is still in beta and it shows, although it can be quite useful for those who are searching only in the sciences. The scientific disciplines seem to be better represented than the humanities. Scholar is an ambitious attempt at what libraries call "federated search," the ability to meta-search multiple databases simultaneously using the same searching rules and technologies.
This page was last updated on 8/8/06.
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