Inner Workings

The web is an example of client/server computing with both computers sharing the work in performing a task.  The server transmits the document.  The client software displays it.  You use a client program (e.g., Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) to retrieve information from this server computer.  Your Internet Service Provider typically represents the server portion of the equation.

Given the context of scanning the Internet for useful information, a search engine is a program, or series of programs that scan and index web pages on the Internet at the server level.  In the context of the World Wide Web, this means the search engine program searches the "HTML language" of the Internet contained in documents gathered by another software program known as a "robot" and then the client software (browser) displays it.

Based on the latest statistics from Zona Research in Redwood, Ca. (2000), the search engine was used 77% of the time by people looking for information.  That makes the search site the #1 tool for information retrieval.  And with over a billion pages on the web, information appearing on the top ten in one engine does not necessarily endorse a consistent score or ranking.  For example, for a selected topic, sites ranked at the top in Altavista.com are not necessarily the same as those found at the top in Google.com.¹

Traditional search software retrieves pages of software and then creates indices using tools like a thesaurus.  When one enters the word "coffee," the results include other words like "latte."  Often search engines require the user to try keyword after keyword to find what they are looking for.  Some allow you to add modifiers to this unique word.  It is preferable to make the search engines more sophisticated rather than making the searcher more sophisticated.

Some search engine and directory sites sell placement ranks within the results themselves (i.e., one can buy a higher page rank).  Consider this as a factor when you look for an easy, honest, and objective way to find high-quality websites with information relevant to your search.

Click Here To Navigate Within Article >> Abstract Introduction Inner Workings Search Engine Types The Hybrid: Directory With Search Engine Searching the Internet Search Strategies Advanced Search Techniques Conclusion References About the Author
	Page 3 of 11
Citation Number: Vol. 2, No. 4, Page 035