Showing posts with label online searching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online searching. Show all posts

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher Review

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher
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The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher ReviewAs the author points out in this book's introduction, Internet searching gets more difficult as the number of Web pages on the Internet increases. Finding what you want isn't simply a matter of entering the right keywords in a search engine. You need to know how to search and which search engine will work best for you. You need to know where to start on the Internet if the information you are searching for can be found without using a search engine or is found on what the author calls "the invisible Web," the part of the Internet that hasn't been mapped and indexed by search engines.
"The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook" is a practical-advice guide to Internet searching. The author looks at Web directories and search engines and tells you where to start when you are doing different kinds of research. There is also advice for conducting research in newsgroups and mailing lists, as well as a catalogue of online references such as encyclopedias and dictionaries. A chapter on news sources and online shopping Web sites rounds out the book.
If you are patient, you can get a lot of good advice from this book. I discovered, for example, that one search engine, AltaVista, permits "NEAR" searches for keywords within ten words of one another on Web pages. I didn't know this kind of search was available. I also discovered a handful of excellent directories and Web sites for conducting Internet research.
However, this book doesn't serve well as a reference. The headings are not particularly descriptive, which makes finding information difficult. The author does a good job of explaining each search engine's features, but the features are presented in long bulleted lists, which makes it hard to compare the search engines. A table in Chapter 4 attempts to compare different search engines, but the table is so crowded with data, it is nearly impossible to read or understand.
The author rightfully points out that Internet researchers often neglect newsgroups and mailing lists in their research, but his instructions for searching for newsgroups with Google are out of date and he doesn't explain how to use Outlook Express or another newsgroup reader to subscribe to newsgroups. Worse, he lumps Yahoo! groups in with newsgroups, when really the two are quite different, as Yahoo! groups are held privately by Yahoo! members (and for that matter, the author might have considered explaining how to create a Yahoo! group on your own). Only three pages are devoted to mailing lists. I think this topic could've used more attention.
The author obviously knows his stuff and is passionate about helping others conduct research on the Internet. I just wish this book was organized more carefully and was professionally published. As another reviewer noted, a graphic image (of a leaf?) obscures the page numbers. That is unforgivable in a reference book like this one, where you often have to consult the index and turn to a particular page. I got angry more than once at not being able to tell which page I was looking at.The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher Overview

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Internet Research - Illustrated (Illustrated (Thompson Learning)) Review

Internet Research - Illustrated (Illustrated (Thompson Learning))
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Internet Research - Illustrated (Illustrated (Thompson Learning)) ReviewThe book is very low on information.
If you've used a computer for at least 2 years this will teach you absolutely nothing.
$20 for a paperback book that is thinner than a quarter.
Bought this for a class,
Be better off mooching off someone else or maybe just winging to topicInternet Research - Illustrated (Illustrated (Thompson Learning)) Overview

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Internet Searches for Vetting, Investigations, and Open-Source Intelligence Review

Internet Searches for Vetting, Investigations, and Open-Source Intelligence
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Internet Searches for Vetting, Investigations, and Open-Source Intelligence ReviewI have been a private investigator for more than 25 years. When I started in this business computers were scarce and the Internet had not yet been commercialized. Everything was done with a pencil and telephone. I have a lot of experience so it is hard for me to find books that are useful. I buy books hoping to learn one or two new things. Edward J. Appel, a retired FBI agent is the author. His company has done work for me so I knew the quality of his work and assumed his book would be at the same level as his investigative efforts. I wasn't disappointed.
The book is 320 pages and broken into 4 sections. Appel begins with a chapter about behavior and technology which orients the investigator/analyst on the growth and use of the Internet. He discusses the usefulness of the Internet as an investigative tool and the transformations the Internet is making through social and technological advances. Along with the benefits for investigators comes the darker side of the web, and Appel examines its criminal exploitation.
The first section provides a great introduction and is geared toward corporate investigators and security personnel tasked with monitoring IT systems, vetting employees and guarding company intellectual property. In Section 2 Appel outlines legal and policy issues related to using information from the Internet in investigations. He identifies liability and privacy issues and laws addressing these concerns such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act. He also dedicates a chapter to litigation, defamation, and invasion of privacy torts.
Appel develops a framework for preparation and planning of successful Internet research. He covers basic information about search engines, metasearch engines, social networking sites and search terms.
I found the chapters Automation of Searching and Internet Intelligence Reporting to be the most enlightening. Reducing time spent searching and analyzing information, seems like a no-brainer. But I would bet the number of investigators who have looked for automated solutions to their collection efforts is small. The Internet Intelligence Reporting section recommends the format and organization of a report as well as what to include and how to cite sources.
Internet Searches for Vetting, Investigations, and Open-Source Intelligence, like many trade publications, is on the pricey side. However it delivers with content and is an easy read. It met my criteria for a successful investigations book because I learned much more than two new things.
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Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finding and Using the World's Information Review

Google Hacks: Tips and Tools for Finding and Using the World's Information
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Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finding and Using the World's Information ReviewFew of today's web-savvy would contest Google's superiority among search engines. Behind the austere and simple interface lies a wealth of information just waiting to be tapped. Until now however, tapping all that information and power would likely require scanning dozens of websites hunting down tips for making the most out of Google. Fortunately, Tara Calishain, Rael Dornfest and their colleagues have done most of the legwork for us in O'Reilly's Google Hacks.
Google Hacks is another in O'Reilly's Hacks series, "Industrial Strength Tips and Tools". In this case, 100 recipes for just about every imaginable use for Google. O'Reilly uses the term 'hack' in a positive way, meaning a clever technical feat or trick, as opposed to the negative connotation associated with those blackhats who break into computer systems for fun and for profit. Each "hack" is a stand-alone recipe demonstrating some aspect of using Google to find just what you're looking for. Most hacks also contain cross-references to other relevant hacks in the book, so you really don't have to read it from cover to cover. You could start with whatever interests you, and go from there.
The book is divided into several chapters, each of which contains several hacks. The first few chapters are targeted at the general end-user, describing in detail all of the various syntaxes you can use when searching with Google, as well as introducing the various topical collections (U.S. government, Linux, Mac, etc.), and other tools (Google Groups, Google News, etc.,) available. The authors are careful to point out where the various syntax pieces are incompatible, and which syntax features are available with which services. Also covered are various tools you can use to (legally) 'scrape' Google search results for further analysis. These chapters will be useful for just about anyone who uses Google. Some of the material (such as directly manipulating URLS to tweak search results and custom HTML forms) may be beyond the reach of some newbies. A general understanding of URLs, HTML and CGI scripting will be helpful in making use of most of the book.
The next few chapters are targeted more to developers and propeller-heads, describing the Google Web Service API, as well as providing dozens of scripts (mostly in Perl) for manipulating Google's index via its XML interface. Newbies and the casual user might find all this a bit overwhelming, but anyone with a Perl interpreter could potentially use these scripts to their advantage. One chapter also provides examples of using the API in various other languages including PHP, Java, Python, C#/.NET, and VB.NET. There are enough examples here of using the API in various fashions to get anyone with a sense of programming plenty of starting off points for whatever project they may imagine with Google's wealth of information.
The next to last chapter involves a handful of pranks, games, other oddities you can do with Google. Fool your friends with 0-result searches, let Google write poetry or a recipe for you. Draw pictures with Google Groups, or see just how good you are at Google-Whacking. This is the chapter for all of you who have way too much time on your hands ;-).
The last chapter in the book is targeted towards webmasters and offers several tips not only on getting your website well-placed in Google's search rankings, but also general help on getting traffic to your site in the first place. The authors also discuss strategies for using Google's AdWords system to the advantage of your business.
Overall, the book is very readable, and easy to move through (well, for a geek anyways). Each hack is self-contained, and can be read in a few minutes. Read it near your computer, as you'll likely be wanting to try some of these hacks out as you read them. As for its usefulness, I'm already using things I learned in the book on a regular basis to my daily advantage. However, if you're not more than a casual user of Google, all the scripts and API-speak might be overkill for your needs. The first few and last chapters probably justify the Amazon price for most users, however.
The book isn't perfect, though. I did find a few typographical errors scattered through the text, but they weren't prevalent enough to be too distracting. Also, with coverage of such a moving target as a major Internet property like Google, there will likely be links and even certain hacks that may not work, and features that change with time. Finally, the idea of narrowing down your search results to a manageable number surfaces often. In my opinion, what's important is not so much how many search results are found, but rather, whether or not Google can get me what I'm looking for within the first page or two of results, which it usually does, and which is why I use Google in the first place. The real value of the book shows itself on those occasions where Google doesn't necessarily get you where you want to be on the first shot.
In summary, true to its cover graphic, Google Hacks will provide you with a large number of tools to get the most out of Google, whether for serious research, casual browsing, procrastination activities, or just plain old fun.Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Finding and Using the World's Information Overview

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The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher Review

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher
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The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher ReviewRand Hock does it again. This thoroughly updated version (I've had the previous two) is a terrific start to using the web as a research tool. From portals to search engines to listservs to a/v file sources, Hock does a masterful job of not only pointing you in the right direction, but giving you the context for the search so that you can feel more comfortable the next time.The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher Overview

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