The Search Box
You can type keywords into a either a subject directory, a site search
box, or a search engine. When you type "China", the computer will
display results matching the word China, but the pages can be
about travel or dinnerware.
The Search Engines
Engines do not really search the web directly for pages
that match your keywords, they search their own
database (electronic files) of web pages (not just web sites) that reside
on their servers.
Freshness
These databases can be 1 month old, but most are
2-3 months old. Some are older. You are always looking at a picture of the
past
when you are using a search engine. Do not use them to find
real-time information such as stock quotes, weather, and flight
times.
There are parts of the Internet that are not included in engines:
Content sites that require a login or registration
Any information that asks for typing (e.g. a form) to get
Intranets; web pages that are not linked from anywhere else
Subscription databases
Sites that use files to block being crawled by engine
Non-web files (e.g. Office files or PDF)
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Search Engines:
AllTheWeb
Alta Vista
Google
HotBot
Teoma
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