Searching for information on a subject

The network of networks, the Internet, has dramatically altered the information landscape and the way we search for information. With traditional printed sources, the main requirement for information searching was knowledge of where to look. With computerised bibliographic databases, the focus shifted to the techniques for searching them, from the where to the how. On the Internet, vast libraries of online resources and a massive array of services which index them set a scene of unprecendented information abundance in which effective searching requires both a mastery of techniques and a knowledge of sources. Thus the Internet has spawned new information industries and professions, and given researchers, educators, and network users the world over the abiding challenge of finding in this information haystack the needle of useful, quality information which is pertinent to their requirements.

It is no surprise then that many services have developed which try to address this need. These services help to locate specific information within the vast mass available on the World Wide Web, in Usenet News postings, in maili ng list archives, and other sources. Some of the main types of service are:

• Search engines, which enable users to search for a specific subject in gigantic automatically generated indexes of Internet resources;
• Classified directories, which select and list resources within a subject hierarchy and enable the user to browse or search these listings
• Portal services, which aim to offer an all-round entry point to the network, whatever the requirements. They embrace both search engine and classified directory and usually other services as well:
• Enhanced classified directories, or Subject gateways in which resources are evaluated and/or described by a subject expert
• Programs which gather information personalized to user requirements (agents);
• Specialist databases accessed via the net;
• Additional Internet sources.

Information searching strategies