On 28 Oct 99, 14:02, Alan Guy wrote:
> I've got to jump in and say something here. I've really enjoyed
> reading the 'plaintiff' cries for help here and actually
> employed some of the responses to my own benefit. The most
> recent example of this was the 'free anti-virus software'
> thread. A friend of mine just went online 2 days ago with an old
> computer so I just '"forward"ed the responses to her. She has no
> anti-v software yet.
>
> I personally don't have too difficult a time finding what I need
> on the Internet, so I mostly just 'lurk' here and when a
> question kind of 'peaks my interest', I just wait to see the
> responses. AND I frequently file the responses for future
> reference if it's not a "hot item" for me at the moment. Why do
> a "search" myself if someone else already has?
I understand what you are saying, but we "finders" can always use more help
for the "seekers" on the list. If you are good at finding answers, we
certainly would appreciate your help, Alan. :-)
> This is definitely a nice place.
Thank you. For those new on the list, a very, very brief history:
SeeknFind was created at ONEList.com by Barnnie West, circa June 1998 or
maybe a little before. Barnnie now lurks on the list, himself. One thing
led to another and I found myself as owner of seeknfind and here we are
today.
LOL...I told you it would be brief. <g>
> It seems to me that people seem to ask for help here for one of
> 2 reasons. They either (1) don't have the time to do a search
> themselves or (2) they don't have (or feel they have) the
> 'skills' necessary to do a competent 'search'. Both reasons are
> absolutely, perfectly valid and understandable.
Add to those reasons that for many in the world, the costs of searching are
prohibitive. We in the US can spend a hour or so searching the WWW for an
answer at a relatively low cost. There are those in the world, that for
them to be online for an hour or more, it would take a sizable portion of
their salary, as costs of telephone and ISP services are very expensive for
them. So we do this for them in the spirit of sharing and Internet
cooperation.
> For the benefit of those who would like to 'improve' their
> "search" skills, is there any good "search" tutorials on the
> Internet suitable for "newbies"? those who feel adequate, but
> would like to better their skills?
>
> Real quickly, doing a search on "search" I got:
> http://www.albany.edu/library/internet/search.html
> and
> http://www.albany.edu/library/internet/syntax.html
>
> But these sites may be "a bit much" for a 'newbie'.
>
> Any ideas?
Yes, try this site:
Expert Searching
A Guide to Developing Your Search Skills
--by Walt Howe
(last updated May 5, 1999)
http://www0.delphi.com/navnet/searchtips.html
I am also a big fan of Danny Sullivan's "Searchengine Watch" site, where
you can find several tutorials and guides on searching the Internet:
http://searchenginewatch.com/
I recommend all subscribers on SeeknFind subscribe to the site's monthly
newsletter - "The Search Engine Report Newsletter"
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/index.html
Another very informative site to teach you to search better, is this Visual
Metrics site: "Tutorial - Guide to Effective Searching in the Internet":
http://www.thewebtools.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm
I am an advocate of using search engine math symbols as opposed to Boolean
operands and arguments. You can learn about search engine math in this
article at the searchenginewatch site:
http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/math.html
One position taken by some proponents of searching the Internet is that for
every thing sought, there is a "best" search engine site for your needs.
They believe one should utilize the best search engine for every unique
need or situation. Albeit this is not a theory I subscribe to myself, one
should try and understand this position as it could aid you in certain
situations:
http://www.webreference.com/content/search/features.html
http://www.nueva.pvt.k12.ca.us/~debbie/library/research/adviceengine.html
In lieu of that theory, I advocate that newcomers basically stick with one
or two of the major search engines until they have learned all the
subtleties of those sites. I think one can become more proficient in
searching if you will gain a thorough understanding of the the search
engine you are using. One can do that better by limiting the search
engines they use, rather than using a mulititude of sites.
> In Health,
>
> Alan Guy "Your Weightloss Specialist"
[...]
Alan, you need to put your .sig on a diet. It is too fat.
Cite: Brian Edmonds' "Mailing List Etiquette FAQ":
http://www.gweep.bc.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html
<excerpt>
How long can I make my .sig?
Ideally it should be as short as possible while still getting across
whatever you feel is important that it contain. The very best .sig of all
is probably just a single line with your name and email address. Remember
that while an ASCII graphic or witty saying may be cool the first time,
it's going to be boring by the time someone sees it five times, and if it's
large enough to attract the eye, will get annoying very quickly.
Unlike news, where space is relatively cheap, so larger sigs are more
forgivable, and four lines or more is typically the norm, mailing lists
feed into a person's private mailbox. Thus, each subscriber is paying for
every byte you send them, so if too much of that is a .sig which contains
no useful information, but is just repeated over and over, many people will
quickly start to feel less favourably inclined towards your contributions
to the list.
<end excerpt>
Alan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
