Web Research

Okay web research starts and most of the time ends with the Search Engine. Search engines search the Web by topic. The problem is that the search engine cannot tell the difference between the keywords portfolio as in a art binder to carry art works or a portfolio as in a business portfolio. 

So first we try  Boolean operators. These are words AND, OR, or NOT (always capitalized) ,or they are signs +, "",  or -. The operators connect the terms (keywords) you are searching and are used to narrow or broaden a search. I will give you an example that I have used myself. 

AND both words        (+) both words     

OR either word           ( - ) not this word

NOT not this word     (" ") the words will be in this order/together 

 

Example  I needed a portfolio for my photographs. I wanted a nice looking one for under $50. I used google.com  as my search engine. The operator I used was { Portfolio AND art AND cases }. The search brought up only the sites with all three words in them. This limited all other sites. Try it. First try a search only with the keyword Portfolio. Then try my operator search. 

 

Example  I wanted to look-up the Summer of Sam (not the movie, the actual event). I tried the keyword "Summer of Sam", but all I got was links about the film. So, I used this operator {"summer of Sam" +1977  -Movie -film -DVD } which eliminated any site that had the keywords film,  movie, and DVD in them. I also used www.ask.com on this search. 

Boolean operators can differ from search engine to search engine. You can also use them together If you still need help with Boolean operators (because I suck at explaining things) you can go to search engine guide at mamma.com. If this link stops working, you can go to www.mamma.com. You should find the information/link to the guide there.  

            search engines/directories/metaserch engines

www.altavista.com *                www.excite.com www.HotBot.com www.Go.com www.lycos.com www.ask.com * www.directhit.com www.google.com * www.gohip.com www.profusion.com

www.surfwax.com www.about.com * www.looksmart.com http://directory.google.com/ * www.stpt.com www.nbci.com http://dmoz.org/ www.1blink.com www.yahoo.com www.beaucoup.com

www.mamma.com * www.metacrawler.com www.nlsearch.com http://jin.dis.vt.edu/fedsearch/     * are the search engines I use

Another search tip is the Drilldown search. To do a drilldown, you have to go to a directory site like www.yahoo.com or http://directory.google.com/. A directory is put together by people (not software). The directory site has a list of topics. You just hit the topic that relates to your search. It will give you another list of topics that relate. You just keep this up until you find the keyword that most relates to your topic. In the end you will end up with sites that other people believe relates to the information you are searching for.

Guessing the URL can also work. If you want information on medieval shoes, you can try www.medievalshoes.com. See if what you are looking for comes up (I just pulled that topic out of my ass. Damn it is a real site. See it can work for you too ). Just try it yourself.

More to come soon......

Great Websites for Research

Below is a list of great sites divided up by topics. 

High Tech Solutions for Your Problems (*) programs I use 

Writing Programs

Want to edit your own fan-fiction yourself before sending it out to your beta? You should try a text-to-speech program. ReadPlease is a free software that will save your eyes and printers ink. ReadPlease can increase your freedom of movement by reading, in a human voice, whatever is copied to the Windows Clipboard. Free Version

Want to know more about Text-to-speech programs try here.

Other text-to-speech programs (some are free, others are not)

Natural Voice Text to Speech Reader Standard (Free)

Speakonia (Free)

CoolSpeech *{$29.99}  

Want a program that predicts words as you type? WordQ Word Prediction continuously predicts what you are typing and presents you with a list of correctly spelled words. When you se the word you want, you can choose it with a single keystroke. The only problem is WordQ costs $129.00. You can download a trial version free for 30 days. (I have not tried this program and I have not found a free version of something similar).

Other word prediction  programs

Click-N-Type is a free on-screen virtual keyboard designed for anyone with a disability that prevents typing on a physical computer keyboard. (word prediction & completion capability)

Internet/Web Programs

Pop-Up Stopper * stops the evil pop ups. This program blocks most pop up windows. It can be turned on and off easily. 

Spider * is a program that removes the hidden files from your computer.

Ad-aware * Scan your system for ad-supported software components (ad-warer and spy-ware) and remove them. (some programs like Kazaa will needs its ad-ware)

Freevo  which is a freeware that turns your computer into a TiVo. 

Dangerous Downloads things you don't want on your computer.

FTP Voyager free FTP program.    IZArc: a free alternative to WinZip. 

AVG Anti-Virus System * this is the free anti-virus I use. It is also recommended by TechTV. 

SETI at Home  search for Aliens from your computer. Read more about SETI. 

Global-IM Client  this one client access' your AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, & Global-IM chat.

Google Toolbar 2.0 * use Google & need an anti pop up? Try this. I love it. 

Mozilla.org for the people that are sick of Explorer & Outlook. The free browser of right now. 

SpyBot removes that nasty  spyware free.

The Gimp: a free alternative to Photoshop. 

PeerGuardian: Helps blocks RIAA. Info here. 

Travelaxe:  It lets users search up to 16 different travel sites for the best rate in 45 US cities. It also rates hotels

(*) programs I use 

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