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Title:
Web Developer.Com Guide to Search Engines
Review:
As many internet / intranet sites reach
maturity, the needs of users to gain fast and easy access to
relevant content is sure to become one of the single biggest
concerns for site administrators. The "Web Developer.Com
Guide to Search Engines" addresses these concerns by
examining a range of dedicated (site specific) search-engines.
Written for a technically literate audience and
addressing directly many of the specific concerns of internet /
intranet site administrators, the authors do tend to assume that
readers have a basic level of IT competency in issues such as web
server set-up / maintenance, site construction / administration
etc. However an overview of these topics is included (where
relevant) throughout the book to enable non-technical readers to
gain a basic understanding of many of the topics discussed.
The book begins with an overview of the history
of search-engines and accompanying technologies including a brief
examination of the histories and features behind the major search
engines. However, caution is advised! This section of the book is
NOT a detailed guide to the subject and clearly doesn't compare
with recent and detailed studies of the subject such as Ran Hock's
book "The Extreme Web Searchers Guide to Search Engines"
(reviewed in the 15/4 issue of Free-Pint.) As a result, claims by
the authors that "you can generally find what you're looking
for (on the internet) with a simple search on Yahoo!" should
be taken with a sackful of salt!
Despite this minor criticism, the book contains
much to recommend, containing a great deal of practical
information to enable most novice web administrators to set up and
run a fully functioning search agent on an intranet or internet
site with confidence. The good news is that of the search agents
analysed, 3 of them are completely free - Excite for WebServers,
Harvest, and ht://dig. The remainder comprise either low cost
solutions - such as Phantom, costing between $277 and $395
depending on use (much less if you're eligible for an academic
discount) or business focused solutions such as AltaVista costing
anywhere from $16,000 to $100,000 (again depending on use).
Where this book really scores high marks for
the information professional is in both the scope and attention to
detail provided by the authors, with proven examples of their
practical experience of the subject throughout the book.
Typical of their approach is the inclusion
within the book of free and 'hassle free' options which are
available from the HotBot and Infoseek search engines. These
convenient services provide the small site owner with an exclusive
searchable index via the simple inclusion of a few lines of HTML
provided by these popular search services.Whilst definitely a more
suitable option for sites where content is infrequently added,
this is a very useful solution for less technically inclined
readers.
Typically the advantages / disadvantages of
using individual search engines are included in each of the
chapters detailing the individual search engines together with
numerous practical descriptions of both difficulties and useful
features the authors have discovered. These include a listing of
the customisation options available (e.g. searching individual
sections within an intranet, selected internet sites etc) the
installation procedure (from start to finish) and the indexing
process - together with clear and lucid explanations of what you
can and can't find or achieve with individual agents, helping the
reader to make an informed and realistic appraisal of the options
available.
For anyone likely to be involved in providing
access to web based information for users, for example librarians,
intranet /internet content or systems administrators - the authors
wide knowledge, clear practical experience and balanced inclusion
of pros and cons (as demonstrated throughout the "Web
Developer Com Guide to Search Engines") is sure to help
illuminate this increasingly important subject.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Nick Lloyd is an internet consultant with
extensive experience of using and searching the internet including
creating and managing internet and intranet sites for major
government agencies. Recent work includes completion of an
extensive internet training programme for Deutsche Bank
http://www.db.com/ conducting
training and workshop based programmes for staff. His interests
include internet design and 'content creation' with a background
in both information work and art and design. He can be contacted
by e-mail at nickllo@rocketmail.com
or on the Web at http://www.lloy.freeserve.co.uk/.
Readers Comments:
The average customer rating at Amazon for this
book is 4.5 out of 5, from 3 reviews.
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