Before we move on, let's have a reality check!
Web searches almost always retrieve a lot of junk. Why is this?
The Web is unstructured and unorganized:
- NO standardized thesaurus or controlled vocabulary or subject lists are used.
- NO comprehensive indexing process occurs.
- There is NO standardization in the types of materials that are mounted on the Web.
- There is NO standardized quality controls or rreview process for Web sites.
- Each search engine's database works differently and is based on different search criterial.
Search engines do attempt to impose order and control by using a number of techniques such as creating simple indexes and subject lists, or using boolean logic (AND/OR) and other sophisticated searching techniques. But these techniques are limited, so the average search retrieves a lot of junk.
On the next several screens, we will discuss how search engines DISPLAY RESULTS and how search engines RANK RESULTS Then we will discuss advanced search features.
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