The PlanWeb Easy Guide to Search Engines
As Planners we have spent a lot of time accessing information relating
to the built environment on the Web. Every surfer can be expected to develop
his or her own favourites and personal preferences. However we suggest
you try the list below as these are 'tried and tested' by us and give good
results. The list is in our order of preference and starts (at the top)
with good basic search engines, going down (towards the bottom) to specialist
engines to meet more refined requirements. Try out the list, bookmark
this page for your future reference and
send us back your comments!
WebCrawler
One of the fastest Web searches around. Very comprehensive in terms
of coverage. No fancy search terms. Excellent place to start for fast,
basic, simple seaches.
Lycos
Very good for a basic Web search. Fast most of the time. Covers nearly
all Web sites.
Excite
Also claims to access the largest number of Web sites. Uses 'plain English'
search language (which isn't as precise as Boolean searches or Infoseek).
Quick to use.
AltaVista
Recently introduced super-spider from Digital which is claimed to be up
to 100 times faster than anyone else's. Uses 'plain English' searches (not
as precise as Boolean searches or Infoseek). But it is very quick and has
a good subject database.
Yahoo
A classic 'grass roots' venture which has grown into one of the most popular
sites around. Search facilities are more limited than Lycos but its categorisation
and subject listing can save hours of time. If you want information on
a general subject then this is a very good place to start.
Infoseek
More limited Web coverage (possibly only about 5% of Web sites). But the
major advantage of Infoseek is that it uses a precise search language.
If you enclose a set of words in [squared brackets] then
Infoseek will find them if they are within 100 words of each other. If
you put a set of words in "double quotes" then
Infoseek will find them in exactly the same format. Use Capital
Initial Letters for names and titles (treated as one group
of words). Add +(without a space) in front of words which must appear
in any documents selected, and -(without space) in front of words
which must not.
Magellan
Visually attractive search engine which covers most of the sites on
the Web. It has an easy explanation of Boolean search operators. Some search
results are accompanied by useful reviews. Searching performance can be
poor. But it is a good standby when other search engines are busy.
NlightN
Will give you every single reference on a subject whether on the Internet
or not. The largest single index in the world. Incorporates over 500 public
and private databases and news services. Searches are free unless you need
to access non-internet reports/documents which are charged for. Excellent
search engine but it can be very slow.
ArchiePlexForm
An indespensable tool if you are looking for a file to download as
it looks through all FTP sites. Very useful for finding shareware programs,
pictures and text files on specific subjects (especially academic ones).
Easy to use interface and search parameters.
DejaNewsResearch
Service
Allows you to undertake a very wide ranging and precise search of UseNet
(i.e. 'news groups' and 'discussion forums') for any particular topic.
Easy to use search options.
CommercialSites
Index
Provides an easy to use index to commercial sites, products and services
available on the Internet.
And if you still haven't
found it................
........ try Beaucoup!
which lists almost 600 search engines! It allows you to identify the best
search engines to use for a particular topic, and also those that are most
applicable to your part of the World. (Recommended by Denzil Millichap.)
Seen a good engine that we've missed out?
PlanWeb is designed by Town Planners for Town Planners
and the Land and Property Professions. Our site is experimental so please
send us feed-back on what you think, together with any items of Internet
News, interesting sites, or other topics which you would like to see included.
If you've spotted a good search engine that we've missed out, then please
let us know so that we can include it. E-mail
to Peter Thorpe at peter@ptcon.co.uk
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