:-a begining-:

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

.:ASSIGNMENT 5:.

SEARCH ENGINE

1)
Search engine: Google
Key words: "theatre dance" school
Url: http://www.susanchambersdance.com
Purpose: Information,
Marketing Size of hits: 560 000
Any relevant ranking:
60% of the 20 webpages are relvant to my findings.
This webpage is ranked second in the google search engine.
Relevant results:
Google only returns pages that include all of my search terms. There is no need to include "and" between terms. Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down the search without improving the results. In Google, the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button will take readers straight to the most relevant website that Google found for the query. Comparing this search with yahoo search engine, I prefer using google as it is faster. Google search was 0.05 seconds compared to yahoo, which was 0.18 seconds. On the other hand, the first 10 webpages in google are of more relevant than those in yahoo search engine.

2)
Search engine: Yahoo
Key words: Contemporary arts media
Url: http://www.hushvideos.com/v2/education
Purpose: Entertainment
Size of hits: 12,000,000
Any relevant ranking:
There is only 20% of the 20 websites which are relevant to my research.
This webpage was first ranked in yahoo search.
Relevant results :
In Yahoo search engine, I have to use specific words to describe exactly what I am looking for. More general terms will give a larger number of results. By default, Yahoo! Search returns only pages that include all of our search terms. To include Words, we would have to type a plus sign + in front of each one. To exclude Words, we have to type a minus sign - in front of them. To find two or more alternatives, use OR and to search for an exact phrase, we have to put quotation marks around two or more words. I felt that for yahoo search, they have repetition and thus, this shows that they do not eliminate their searching strategies

META SEARCH ENGINE

3)
Search engine: Dogpile
Key words: latest news on theatre dance (Singapore)
Url: http://www.nchoreographers.org/news.htm
Purpose: News
Size of hits: 77
Any relevant ranking:
60% of the first 20 webpages are relevant on the latest news about theatre dance. However, only 2 of the websites are relevant to Singapore's context. This webpage was first ranked in the dogpile search engine.
Relevant results:
In Dogpile.com, the virtual retriever, Arfie chases down the best results from the Internet's top search engines, including Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN, Ask.com, About, MIVA, LookSmart and more. Once the results are retrieved, the innovative metasearch technology used by Dogpile goes to work removing duplicates and analyzing the results to help ensure the best results top the list. In Dogpile.com, there are more categories to choose from; web, images, audio, video, yellow pages or white pages. Moreover, the "Comparison View" feature allows comparing results from the leading engines.

4)
Search engine: Vivisimo
Key words: "dance+theatre"advocacy
Url: http://www.grarodance.com/297870.html
Purpose: Advocacy
Size of hits: 74700
Any relevant ranking:
The first 40% of the 20 websites are relevant.
This website was in the fifth rank under Vivisimo.com search.
Relevant results:
In Vivisimo.com, it is different compared to dogpile as it features categories from informational websites like Yahoo! News, CNN, FirstGov, NY Times etc. In vivisimo.com, it does not provide users special/extra features compared to dogpile.com. Vivisimo.com seems to be for business searches. There is also no save settings for the users preferences in Vivisimo.com.

SUBJECT DIRECTORY

5)
Search engine: Lycos (Subject directory)
Key words: directory +(newsletter on dance theater)+
Url: http://www.accessplace.com/arts.htm
>cyber dance >news & information >Singapore arts festival
This is a Web Exhibit Catalogue Directory of science and arts online exhibits.
Purpose: Information, News
Size of hits: 292 200
Any relevant ranking:
20% of the first 20 websites are related.
The webpage which I found quite relevant to my topic was ranked seventh in the Lycos search. Relevant results:
Lycos topical searches aggregate information into highly segmented indexes, helping users refine the searches and quickly access the most pertinent and useful information. After using Lycos as a base to search the subject directory, there were many options to choose from. However, I favoured the acceessplace.com/arts as it focused into the subject-related site that I needed.

Comparison and Evaluation on search effectiveness

1) Compare the search results. Identify 2 characteristics that make all 3 search facilities similar or different from one another.

Similarities: For phrase searching, all the search engines (google, yahoo, lycos) uses the open inverted comas " " and also for the term definitions on including or excluding words, all of them uses + which allows to retrieve words (common) and - to exclude the terms/words.

Differences: For directories, the user can control the search pattern through the descriptors. It allows the user to browse and it is more vague and general in their search terms. Search engines leave the searching pattern to the computer program and can be used to find more specific terms/resources. For the Meta search engines, it is used by collating all the other search engines in one. The problem with this is, the search results are more comprehensive but it is slower to obtain.

2) Do you find any strength/weakness of each of them, in terms of search capability?

On the whole, in directories, it is good for general information but not successful in locating specific results. The number of resources in the directory is far much lesser than those in the search engine and also Meta search engine. Search engines are more user friendly and easy usage unlike the others. Overall, I favour google.com as it gives relevant and precise search findings unlike the rest. For Meta search engines, it gives a very wide range of search. In a way, it is an advantage to us; however, the content of the search does not really meet to my needs.

3) Overall, which search facility best meet your searching needs? Why?

I prefer Google.com as it is effective and most of the search meet to my needs. The relevant choices are always at the first page and thus, it makes the whole search process a very fast and efficient one. From what I have researched on, Google search is based on the page popularity that is measured in links from other pages (high rank if a lot of other pages are linked).

4) Comment whether your research topic has any co-relation to the purposes of the resources retrieved.

My research topic has co-relation to the purposes of the resources retrieved. My topic is on Development of theatre dance. However, I learnt that we cannot use the same key words for a more precise search. We have to be more detail in our choice of words. From the WebPages that I have researched on, for example, on the dance school- Susan chambers school of theatre dance, it is an information tool for readers to read about the different choreographers and also the purpose of marketing out the school to the public.

hamba blogged at 11:07 PM


	-:ME:- Liyana About Me -:Simple:- -Friendly- Links Taj's Site Feed Azim's Site Feed Site Feed Archives May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 -- Credits Skin by: sixseven Powered by: blogger		Tuesday, May 30, 2006 .:ASSIGNMENT 5:. SEARCH ENGINE 1) Search engine: Google Key words: "theatre dance" school Url: http://www.susanchambersdance.com Purpose: Information, Marketing Size of hits: 560 000 Any relevant ranking: 60% of the 20 webpages are relvant to my findings. This webpage is ranked second in the google search engine. Relevant results: Google only returns pages that include all of my search terms. There is no need to include "and" between terms. Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down the search without improving the results. In Google, the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button will take readers straight to the most relevant website that Google found for the query. Comparing this search with yahoo search engine, I prefer using google as it is faster. Google search was 0.05 seconds compared to yahoo, which was 0.18 seconds. On the other hand, the first 10 webpages in google are of more relevant than those in yahoo search engine. 2) Search engine: Yahoo Key words: Contemporary arts media Url: http://www.hushvideos.com/v2/education Purpose: Entertainment Size of hits: 12,000,000 Any relevant ranking: There is only 20% of the 20 websites which are relevant to my research. This webpage was first ranked in yahoo search. Relevant results : In Yahoo search engine, I have to use specific words to describe exactly what I am looking for. More general terms will give a larger number of results. By default, Yahoo! Search returns only pages that include all of our search terms. To include Words, we would have to type a plus sign + in front of each one. To exclude Words, we have to type a minus sign - in front of them. To find two or more alternatives, use OR and to search for an exact phrase, we have to put quotation marks around two or more words. I felt that for yahoo search, they have repetition and thus, this shows that they do not eliminate their searching strategies META SEARCH ENGINE 3) Search engine: Dogpile Key words: latest news on theatre dance (Singapore) Url: http://www.nchoreographers.org/news.htm Purpose: News Size of hits: 77 Any relevant ranking: 60% of the first 20 webpages are relevant on the latest news about theatre dance. However, only 2 of the websites are relevant to Singapore's context. This webpage was first ranked in the dogpile search engine. Relevant results: In Dogpile.com, the virtual retriever, Arfie chases down the best results from the Internet's top search engines, including Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN, Ask.com, About, MIVA, LookSmart and more. Once the results are retrieved, the innovative metasearch technology used by Dogpile goes to work removing duplicates and analyzing the results to help ensure the best results top the list. In Dogpile.com, there are more categories to choose from; web, images, audio, video, yellow pages or white pages. Moreover, the "Comparison View" feature allows comparing results from the leading engines. 4) Search engine: Vivisimo Key words: "dance+theatre"advocacy Url: http://www.grarodance.com/297870.html Purpose: Advocacy Size of hits: 74700 Any relevant ranking: The first 40% of the 20 websites are relevant. This website was in the fifth rank under Vivisimo.com search. Relevant results: In Vivisimo.com, it is different compared to dogpile as it features categories from informational websites like Yahoo! News, CNN, FirstGov, NY Times etc. In vivisimo.com, it does not provide users special/extra features compared to dogpile.com. Vivisimo.com seems to be for business searches. There is also no save settings for the users preferences in Vivisimo.com. SUBJECT DIRECTORY 5) Search engine: Lycos (Subject directory) Key words: directory +(newsletter on dance theater)+ Url: http://www.accessplace.com/arts.htm >cyber dance >news & information >Singapore arts festival This is a Web Exhibit Catalogue Directory of science and arts online exhibits. Purpose: Information, News Size of hits: 292 200 Any relevant ranking: 20% of the first 20 websites are related. The webpage which I found quite relevant to my topic was ranked seventh in the Lycos search. Relevant results: Lycos topical searches aggregate information into highly segmented indexes, helping users refine the searches and quickly access the most pertinent and useful information. After using Lycos as a base to search the subject directory, there were many options to choose from. However, I favoured the acceessplace.com/arts as it focused into the subject-related site that I needed. Comparison and Evaluation on search effectiveness 1) Compare the search results. Identify 2 characteristics that make all 3 search facilities similar or different from one another. Similarities: For phrase searching, all the search engines (google, yahoo, lycos) uses the open inverted comas " " and also for the term definitions on including or excluding words, all of them uses + which allows to retrieve words (common) and - to exclude the terms/words. Differences: For directories, the user can control the search pattern through the descriptors. It allows the user to browse and it is more vague and general in their search terms. Search engines leave the searching pattern to the computer program and can be used to find more specific terms/resources. For the Meta search engines, it is used by collating all the other search engines in one. The problem with this is, the search results are more comprehensive but it is slower to obtain. 2) Do you find any strength/weakness of each of them, in terms of search capability? On the whole, in directories, it is good for general information but not successful in locating specific results. The number of resources in the directory is far much lesser than those in the search engine and also Meta search engine. Search engines are more user friendly and easy usage unlike the others. Overall, I favour google.com as it gives relevant and precise search findings unlike the rest. For Meta search engines, it gives a very wide range of search. In a way, it is an advantage to us; however, the content of the search does not really meet to my needs. 3) Overall, which search facility best meet your searching needs? Why? I prefer Google.com as it is effective and most of the search meet to my needs. The relevant choices are always at the first page and thus, it makes the whole search process a very fast and efficient one. From what I have researched on, Google search is based on the page popularity that is measured in links from other pages (high rank if a lot of other pages are linked). 4) Comment whether your research topic has any co-relation to the purposes of the resources retrieved. My research topic has co-relation to the purposes of the resources retrieved. My topic is on Development of theatre dance. However, I learnt that we cannot use the same key words for a more precise search. We have to be more detail in our choice of words. From the WebPages that I have researched on, for example, on the dance school- Susan chambers school of theatre dance, it is an information tool for readers to read about the different choreographers and also the purpose of marketing out the school to the public. hamba blogged at 11:07 PM