Examines search tools available to elementary and secondary school students, both human-compiled and crawler-based, to help direct them to age-appropriate Web sites; analyzes the procedures of search engines labeled family-friendly or kid safe that use filters; and tests the effectiveness of these services to students in school libraries. (LRW)

In this article we explain a semantic analysis model derived from neural networks and pattern classification experiences, based on keyword sets. This model can be used for searching, analyzing, and composing documents in e-learning systems and for permitting inter-platform collaboration and data exchange. In particular, we explain some searching…

Google Scholar, the beta Google service for searching scholarly information, crawls scholarly, web-based content--predominantly by targeting specific publishers with which Google has contractual arrangements. Open access material is crawled as well. These full-text materials, abstracts, and citations are being indexed, and citations from these…

To do solid academic research, college students need to look beyond the computer search engine. This short, practical book introduces students to the important components of the information-seeking process. "The Elements of Library Research" provides a foundation for success in any research assignment, from a freshman paper to a senior thesis.…

Distance education created new challenges regarding the delivery of large size isochronous continuous streaming media (SM) objects. In this paper, we consider the design of a framework for customized SM presentations, where each presentation consists of a number of SM objects that should be retrieved and displayed to the user in a coherent…

This article explores a hypothesis that the Internet and the World Wide Web form an alternative resource to that provided by conventional adult education providers. The example used is the dissemination and transfer of information on and analysis of issues concerning women and violence. Four important issues for adult (that is, post-compulsory)…

This handbook provides information on how Internet search engines and related software and utilities work and how to use them in order to improve search techniques. The book begins with an introduction to the Internet. Part 1 contains the following chapters that cover mining the Internet for information: "An Introduction to Search…

Explains intelligent agents, special software tools that help make the Web more interactive by helping with information retrieval. Describes major types of agents, including search agents and agents for specialized tasks including monitors and knowledge management; and lists relevant Web sites. (LRW)

Discusses subject gateway sites and commercial search engines for the Web and presents an explanation of Google's PageRank algorithm. The principle question addressed is the conditions under which a gateway site will increase the likelihood that a target page is found in search engines. (LRW)

Compares links between 76 Chinese university Web sites with ranks obtained from the NetBig lists, using a specialized Web crawler to collect data. Provides a background to the higher education system in mainland China, describes the NetBig ranking scheme, and explains Web site crawling problems encountered. (Author/LRW)

Metasearching of online current news services is a potentially useful Web application of distributed information retrieval techniques. Reports experiences in building a metasearcher designed to provide up-to-date searching over a significant number of rapidly changing current news sites, focusing on how to merge results from the search engines at…

Discussion of information literacy and education focuses on a module developed to provide instruction related to Web searching. Highlights include basic Web search strategies; Web search tools, including directories, search engines, specialized search tools, and the use of pathfinder pages; and suggested practice activities. (Author/LRW)

Discusses how to improve the quality of Internet search systems and introduces the Ghosts Consensus Method which is free from the drawbacks of digital democracy algorithms and is based on linear programming tasks. Highlights include vector space models; determining relevant documents; and enriching query terms. (LRW)

Discusses the emergence of general audience digital libraries (GADLs), a context that represents a hybrid of both traditional information retrieval, using primarily bibliographic resources provided by database vendors, and popular information retrieval such as public search systems on the Web. Reports findings of a study investigating end-user…

Discussion of Web search strategies focuses on a comparative study of textual and graphical summarization mechanisms applied to search engine results. Suggests that thumbnail images (graphical summaries) can increase efficiency in processing results, and that enhanced thumbnails (augmented with readable textual elements) had more consistent…