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SEARCH TOOLS
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html
The extensive WWW Virtual Library is a powerful search tool
that allows you to find information on almost any of the world's
Web servers through user-friendly key word searches. Make sure
this vital address is in your hotlist.
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http://www.whoopie.com/
Establishing a directory of sound and video files on the
Internet is an intrinsically Net-like nerdy thing to do. What
possible use is searching out stuff to download, watch and listen
to, regardless of what it is? Believe me, two hours and one film
trailer later, the novelty begins to pale but, regardless,
Whoopie is in the 'Why do it? Because we can,' Web site genre,
and is probably as useful a way as any of getting to film, TV,
radio and 'other' miscellaneous whizz-bang sites. But pushing the
edges of the envelope? Not!
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http://mediavillage.mediatel.co.uk/
The Media Village is a Net community populated by leading
media organisations and top industry bods. Everything a media
mogul could wish for is here: a place to order industry data and
publications, a mechanism for finding out more about careers and
training, a way of tracking down email addresses and a dicussion
forum. A fair amount of information is available to proles but
magnates who've made their millions may want to subscribe to the
in-depth service for £7400 pa. Like most villages, it's easy to
find your way around and the atmosphere is friendly. Absolutely
fabulous darling but Ü take it from one who knows Ü not a
preparation for the bitching, backstabbing cut 'n' thrust of the
real media world.
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http://www.search.com
More c/net product and several bookmarks in one. Search.com
combines the type-in 'go get it' boxes from all your favourite
search engines Ü Alta Vista, Excite, Yahoo, Lycos, Infoseek,
Magellan and sister software library, Shareware.com. It also
collates specialist search tools for specialist subject areas,
which makes everything a lot easier in the long run. Hurrah!
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http://edit.my.yahoo.com/bin/login
The personalised Web comes a step closer with My Yahoo.
Currently in beta, the site offers to make a personalised
selection from all of Yahoo's categories and the selection
process is obviously based on these. It's pretty quick to set up
and we found that the selections made were interesting and
useful. A nice clean design takes you through the configuration
process. Well worth a look .
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http://metacrawler.cs.washington.edu:8080/
How to justify another review of another search engine. Well
(yawn), why not? Metacrawler is the newest of bunch, still in
beta but with more features than you can shake a stick at. Not
that shaking a stick at it would do much good! It simultaneously
submit search terms to the big guys Ü Infoseek, Yahoo, Excite,
Webcrawler, Open Text, Inktomi, Galaxy, Lycos and Alta Vista Ü
hence the 'meta' bit. (How long before this really gets the big's
search facilities' goat?) Not only that, but it also lets you
limit your search in a number of ways. This works either by
letting you limit precious seconds online by saying search only
for a specified number of minutes, or you can choose by region
(the world, your continent, country, domain) or type of Web site
(any, com, edu, org and so on) to help narrow things down. This
is useful, if you already know what you're looking for and it
means you'll never spend more than a few minutes trawling through
the results. One more to add to your bookmarks. Let's play hide
and seek!
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http://inktomi.berkeley.edu/
Whether its the native American name and its overtones or the
fact that Inktomi does its job very well, it's become kind of
cool to use this particular search engine. You can search using
up to 10 words and Inktomi returns those documents that contain
those words. The results are then ranked in order of how many of
your search words each document contains. Phew!
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http://www.einet.net/galaxy.html
Seldom mentioned but holding its own, Galaxy's Web directory
is both an engine that searches for your request and a listings
directory of Web addresses. When Lycos and Point combined are
doing so well, it gets harder to recommend other search
applications, but it's really about finding something that meets
your own needs. This one might be it.
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http://www.god.co.uk
The Global Online Directory. Big build up, monster domain
name. It promises so much and then fails to deliver. The bare
bones are there, for example you can search geographically (great
idea) but in practice much of the information is not available.
Why pretend that searching on Afghanistan, Albania or Algeria is
an option when in reality it actually isn't? How useful is it to
pick four relevant letters from the alphabet in order to search
for a title, description or URL of an HTML page? Sometimes the
whole process is a little confusing Ü search on 'universities'
and you get one match but in the singular you get 224. Obviously
this needs some fine tuning Ü perhaps some slightly more
sophisticated query options? G.O.D. may be in his heaven but
there's a long way to go before all's right with the online
world.
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http://www.mailbox.co.uk/esp
Short for email (address) search program, this offers a
simple one box interface search engine for sniffing out
somebody@large on the Net. Pathetic pleas for sympathetic
treatment are no excuse for poor results, and they were poor, but
if your message is destined for a regular user of Usenet, then it
may actually come up trumps. Then again, you could always try
searching newsgroups y'self!
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http://www.altavista.digital.com
The mainstream success of the Internet will ultimately depend
on how good its search tools, directories and engines are and, it
has to be said, they keep on getting better. Alta Vista is an
excellent device from Digital for finding references or documents
in Web pages and for trawling through thousands of newsgroups.
Its super spider dispatches ilittle spider babies to crawl and
collect data from all over the Web. Queries can either be simple
or sophisticated (by date, results displayed in a pre-selected
ranking order, using phrases and, or, not or near). There's also
a random destination button under the name Surprise!
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http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/lib/address.html
An absolute top, very well executed idea that offers direct
links and handy tips for searching out the email addresses of
difficult -to-get-hold-of colleagues or long-lost friends. It has
an educational bias, so finding academic types is presumably a
bit of a breeze. Otherwise, it suggests specific directories,
searching newsgroups and other 'finding email addresses' pages to
refer to when embarking on a particularly elusive acquaintance.
It's not always easy and you should be prepared for it to take a
while. In fact it takes at least an hour to fully digest the
information on this site, and that's before you even start to go
elsewhere.
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http://wyp.net
Cor blimey! A Californian-based company has placed the entire
US Yellow Pages online. Fully searchable by name, state, zip and
telephone number, it also includes links to other Yellow Pages
search engines around the world. Any American organisation not
included can add their own details and create a page for free.
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http://www.europages.com
Only by using directories like this will these services even
begin to meet your needs. This is a list of European business
contacts, allowing you access to 150,000 suppliers in 25 European
countries. Searchable in English, German, Spanish, French and
Italian...shortly to include Dutch, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese
and Russian. The structure is in place to make it a wholly
reciprocal arrangement and Euro-opportunities could beckon for
you.
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http://www.excite.com
Using a search engine is about finding the best one for you .
Excite's Netsearch actually uses Architext Software and so works
on the principle of both keyword and concept searches. It can be
directed towards Web documents, Usenet discussion groups or
Usenet classified ads Ü in the unlikely event that you'd want to
search them that is.
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http://www.webcrawler.com/
Internet has been highly remiss in not listing this before as
it's one we use often in the office. If you're not already
familiar with WebCrawler's super-speedy way of searching on
words, then the main point to mention is its total simplicity. Go
use.
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http://www.Four11.com/
This works on the principle of 'you show me yours and I'll
show you mine'. Once you have added your own email address or Web
page to the directory (including details of hobbies, old schools
and stuff like that), you can search for other peoples' addresses
and/or their Web pages. Simple and effective Üævoila!
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http://barrichello.ucr.edu/okra/
OKRA helps you find email addresses for both individuals and
organisations. It's not infallible but you can elect to have
yourself included on the database. Otherwise, the search on names
and addresses must be related to those who have at one time used
newsgroups, so if you're a little paranoid you know not what to
do.
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http://www.ukdirectory.com
This has been touted as one of the best places to search for
UK sites. It uses simple category headings and is reassuringly
easy to use, partly because the volume of information is still,
just about, at a manageable size.
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http://www.fultech.com/
Already adopted by the Microsoft Network, Fulcrum
Technology's Web server software is a full-text search and
retrieval system. It's special oh-not-so-standard feature is
something called 'intuitive' searching which, in a pretty
sophisticated fashion, allows users to get hold of documents a
bit like the one they're already reading.
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http://www.pls.com
Searching across a selection of personally chosen databases
is just one of the benefits of PLWeb. Adopted by America Online,
Prodigy, Pathfinder and, more recently, The Well, it allows users
to look at local as well as remote servers and offers a wide
variety of searches. Concept searches take a word, phrase or
query and find words that are 'conceptually' related by virtue of
having a similar distribution in the database you're looking at.
A dictionary search lets you know how many times a word is used
in a database and the fuzzy advisor minimises problems with bad
spelling or typographical errors. However, running a copy of
PLWeb is probably only really useful for the business user
because, although it does work with a 14.4 or 19.2 kbps
connection, something rather more speedy is recommended.
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http://www.atext.com
Architext's Web server software has a few features worth
mentioning. Firstly, it allows you to do concept-based searches.
Secondly, you can then ask it to find documents 'more like this'
and thirdly, it'll group the retrieved records by subject.
Voil½! Demos are available on a rather miniscule 5Mb database
but a more comprehensive test is offered if you ask.
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http://www.dejanews.com
Marvellous method for trawling through Usenet, if you're
looking for past postings. Search on the complete newsgroup name,
look for certain characters or words in the name, search by date
or even postings from particular people. It's so simple and it
works.
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http://www.NeoSoft.com/internet/paml/
Stephanie da Silva's massive Publicly Accessible Mailing
Lists directory is available here in hypertext. This is far more
convenient than the text version as you can click on the email
contacts, cut and paste the subscription request and mail it
directly to your browser. There are thousands of specialist lists
organised by name or subject, with ample details on their
traffic, content and joining instructions.
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http://www.ukindex.co.uk
Firm and business-like but in no way intimidating, UK Index
is a manually compiled, and hence high-quality, database of sites
about, or located in, the UK. Users select the areas they're
interested in by clicking subject boxes and relevant addresses
are returned with a one-line description and a hotlink.
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http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~dreiling/smartform.html
This handy search tool queries other search tools on your
behalf, in real time. All you have to do is type in one or more
key words and Savvy Search does the rest.
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http://www.albany.net/~wcross/all1srch.html
There's more than one way to skin a cat and using that Yahoo
or Infoseek can get to be a bit of a habit. These perfectly
formed pages should be seen to be believed. They're an A-Z of
Internet search tools, all combined in one consistent, convenient
interface. There are engines for Web search sites, file finders
and heaps of subject-based specialist material. It's a chance to
try out new tools and compare them with regular faves Ü if only
to find out that the dependable, much relied on regulars are the
best. The only problem is running out of things to look
for.
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http://www.u-net.com/develop/intdev/ukweb/ukweb.html
A new and welcome addition for when What's New: Yahoo is a
total log jam Ü a page devoted entirely to recently launched
British sites on the Web. And for every UK research institute,
academic resource or business presence on the Internet, there's a
warped individual with an even more warped home page. Whatever
happened to...only in America?
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http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/safe/notsee.html
If you're looking for Web sites brimming with controversy,
sex, politics and anarchy, step this way.
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http://www.uwm.edu/Mirror/inet.services.html
Like Yahoo, this exceptional list breaks down Web sites and
other Internet resources into categories, making it another
valuable navigational aid.
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http://www.infoseek.com
Infoseek allows to you can search a database of WWW pages,
the most recent 6 week's Usenet, Newsbytes International
Computing Industry News, Cineman Reviews, FrameMaker 4.0 Help
Notes, Hoover's Masterlist of U.S. Companies, Wire Services,
Computer Select, InfoWorld and Hoover's Company Profiles. Unlike
much of the competition it is always accessible, can search
through the entire body text of Web pages and Usenet, has an
ultra-forgiving interface and can give you a report on all the
news postings from a single email address instantaneously. You
can try it for a month free, but after that it costs about
US$10.00 per month. Step aside, Lycos!
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http://www.cityscape.co.uk/users/wwwdir.html
Cityscape's free Web pages offer has produced this mixed
basket of the mildly commercial to the indulgently personal.
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http://power.globalnews.com:80/freestuff/buyaccess.html
How to get the sort of stuff listed at Yahoo or
WWW.emap.co.uk without paying someone to tell you where it is.
It's amazing how alluring that word 'free' is. A rip-off of the
highest order.
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http://www.yellow.com/
Yes, yes, yes. This is what we've been waiting for - a
centralised business registry. It means you only have one place
to look, rather than scouring every corner of the Net. It
ambitiously sets out to be the 'Yellow pages for the next 100
years'. It's looking good so far, let's hope it can handle the
traffic.
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http://web.city.ac.uk/citylive/pages.html
Not what you'd think, but the WWW Virtual Library's directory
of individual home pages. Add your own, using the form, if you
think you'll be heard above the noise.
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http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~ta/cgi-bin/revdoor-ta
You can add your favourite URL, delete a URL or visit one
already on the menu. This makes it an ever-changing and
quasi-democratic hot list maintained entirely by visitors.
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http://www.lib.umich.edu/chhome.html
This guide provides links to subject-orientated Internet
resources by providing a menu from which to start your search.
It's like a stiffer, less attractive, version of Yahoo but just
as useful.
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http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/
This automatically compiled list works like a Gopher menu and
allows you to browse news FAQs accompanied by brief descriptions.
However, you'll need to configure your WWW client to point at a
suitable NNTP server to take advantage of the hyperlinks.
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http://www.limitless.co.uk/inetuk/
This is the best set of UK Internet resource lists you will
find anywhere. If you're shopping for a connection, you can
compare Internet access provider's details here, and then link to
their home pages. There are lists of Internet consultants,
training courses, publications and a hotlist chock full of links
to useful information, guides, tools and services.
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http://gnn.com/netizens/
Create a link to your own home page or browse this GNN list
by name and choose one randomly Ü it's a bit of a lucky dip.
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http://www.yahoo.com
This is another indispensible addition to your browsing
toolbox. Apart from the excellent menu-based browser, there are
links to new, cool and popular sites. Menus may be several layers
deep and can hyperlink you to Web sites, Gophers, news and FTPs.
You can search by keyword or add your own URL. Some sites are
rated and new entries are tagged to give you extra guidance.
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http://harvest.cs.colorado.edu/
Another excellent WWW keyword browse and search tool with
less duplication than others such as Lycos and the WWWW. The
reference database is collated from content summaries, anchors
and HTML strings and contains over 22,000 WWW home pages. Make
sure this is in your toolkit.
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http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/WWW/Geographical.html
You have the choice of sensitive map or hypertext link to
search for servers in this regionally sorted list. It's great for
finding country specific information or just surfing the globe.
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http://www.cs.colorado.edu/home/mcbryan/WWWW.html
Based at the University of Colorado, this server offers
several good ways to search the Web. The examples given show how
to search with multiple references.
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http://www.netgen.com/info/growth.html
Apart from cryptically coded statistics on Web growth, this
site provides links to thousands http sites, sorted by country.
However, other than the site code, no other information is
supplied, so it's a bit like throwing a dart. However, it's
useful if you're after regional information or just want to
browse randomly.
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Gopher:
gopher.scs.unr.edu
Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Netwide Index to
Computerised Archives) allows key word searches of Gopher menus.
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http://cool.infi.net/
If your site is listed here it will guarantee a traffic surge
of at least a few thousand.
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http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/
This massive index maintained by Carnegie Mellon University
is the best place to start a Web search. This Web crawler
generated index searches, document titles, headings, links and
keywords, usually returning more hits than any other tool.
Whether they will be useful ones is another matter, though.
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http://www.gnn.com/gnn/gnn.html
Make this top Web server an essential addition to your
hotlist. From deep in the heart of Californian wine country, GNN
has carefully organised links to a host of useful places. This
includes access to the inimitable Whole Internet Catalogue, a
large classified directory of what's on the Web, Digital Drive
In, a section about movies, and NetNews, a weekly roundup of
Internet news. The Market Place, a growing source of commercial
practices setting up on the Internet, What's New, and the
excellent Personal Finance section are also well worth a regular
scan.
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http://cuiwww.unige.ch/
Excellent textual browser maintained by the Centre
Universitaire d'Informatique in Geneva which allows you to search
summaries of several Web catalogues to produce detailed links.
The catalogue currently contains 12,308 entries.
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