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Is Internet the ultimate
search tool?
Despite the
dotcom debacle, the Internet continues to have a lot of potential as a vast
repository of information. MOHAN BABU writes that people however make
the mistake of assuming that the Internet is a library which has answers to
all their queries
The dotcom
mania has come and gone but the Internet still remains a vibrant tool in the
hands of technologists. How useful is the tool? Consider this: If I faced
some problem while installing Iplanet webserver on an NT box, or a weird
Java compiler problem, the first thing I’d do is to look up the manual and
then type the error or keywords on to Google and presto, hundreds of entries
would pop up. Some even with the exact problem that I faced, and a few with
resolutions posted by eager coders. A few minutes of search with the right
keywords can yield a wealth of information. I just took the example of
Google since it is almost the de facto search engine, and by far the highest
ranked one out there.
Search
engines are generally windows to the Web, a place where most of us go to
look for information, sort through catalogues and look for listings of
websites. Search engines use software robots to survey the Web and build
their databases. Web documents are retrieved and indexed. When you enter a
query at a search engine website, your input is checked against the search
engine’s keyword indices. The best matches are then returned to you as hits.
There are two primary methods of text searching—keyword and concept. Keyword
searching is the most common form of text search on the Web. Most search
engines do their text query and retrieval using keywords. Essentially, this
means that search engines pull out and index words that are believed to be
significant. Words that are mentioned towards the top of a document and
words that are repeated several times throughout the document are more
likely to be deemed important. Unlike keyword search systems, concept-based
search systems try to determine what you mean, not just what you say. In the
best circumstances, a concept-based search returns hits on documents that
are about the subject/theme you’re exploring, even if the words in the
document don’t precisely match the words you enter into the query.
Even with the
advances in search engine technologies, people frequently get frustrated
because they think of the Internet as a vast library while the fact remains
that it is not a library at all. I don’t intend to deny the fact that the
Internet is definitely one of the largest repositories of information
available to us. However unlike a library, information and data on the Web
is not catalogued or even ordered. Individual sites and portals maintained
by individuals, groups, companies, governments or organisations are
responsible for content, formatting, and layout of data. Because of the
frustration that people face while searching for critical information, a
number of Web portals and search engine companies have added sections
offering “human searchers” that involve people searching for information and
getting it for a fee.
Google
recently introduced an answer service titled answers.google.com. Anyone
wanting information that they are unable or unwilling to search, can go to
the portal and post their query for a fee. Google Answers gives individuals
access to more than 500 approved researchers. Starting at $2.50 per question
they will do your research for you. Google’s answers.google.com is not the
first or the only portal to offer this service. Other big players include
allexperts.com, askme.com, experts.com and about.com’s experts.
Surprisingly, not many Indian players have jumped on to this bandwagon. The
closest we come to this model in India is BPO outsourcing, where individual
outsourcing companies provide “information” and e-mail answering services to
their clients.
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