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Specialised searches: Finding the unusual
Don’t let the information you need remain buried in the internet. Here’s how to reach even the most far flung corners of the web
People, images, literature, academic papers. Sometimes we just need to find something quite specific on the internet. But, trying to pick out relevant websites from the mass of results delivered by a general search request can take forever. Here we show you a better way to find the unusual:
Step 1
All the main search engines have specialist options. For example, go to www.yahoo.co.uk and click on Images, above the search box. Enter 'Spurn Point Lighthouse' in the search box and click OK. Thumbnails of all the images that Yahoo thinks matches your search terms will appear, with the distinctive black and white shape of the famous lighthouse among them.
Step 2
Results do differ between search sites, although it might not feel like it at times. Just three search engines – Google, Yahoo and Picsearch – are used by nearly all the other search sites. For example, Google (www.google.co.uk) is used by AOL, while Yahoo (www.yahoo.co.uk) supplies Altavista and Picsearch (www.picsearch) is used by Lycos and MSN Search.
Step 3
If a place or subject is of interest to you, then the chances are that it is of interest to others too. Try a public photo collection, such as Webshots (www.webshots.com) or Flickr (www.flickr.com). Amateur photographers have taken some spectacular shots of Spurn Point Lighthouse, as a search on Flickr shows.
Step 4
Have a look at the other specialist search options available in each search engine, you never know when they might be useful. On Google, click on the More link above the search box, and then on Book Search. Enter, for instance, Pride and Prejudice and Google will search the full text of books for that phrase. Books that are out of copyright, or whose author has given permission, can be read in full on the site. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) is another good site to search for out of copyright literature.
Step 5
Stop spending money calling telephone directories. Use the internet instead to find phone numbers for free instead. Go to www.thephonebook.bt.com, and click on Residential Listings. Electoral roll details are now also available online, but at a cost. (If you don’t want your details displayed in this way, make sure you tick the relevant box next time you register). Some sites such as 192.com will return a small selection of results for free.
Step 6
Census records for those born more than 100 years ago are now also available online. Go to the National Archives website (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) and click on Census records.
Step 7
What if the person you’re looking for emigrated? Passenger lists from 1890 to 1960 can be searched for free at www.ancestorsonboard.com.
Step 8
Academic papers and research are the hardest items for search engines to find. They often use a format that can’t be read by the little programs that collate the internet for the search sites. In addition, these programs find their way around the web by going from link to link, and scholarly papers can easily be missed, as often they aren’t linked to by any other sites. Google has just launched Google Scholar, which ferrets out academic literature. Two other sites that aim to reach the parts of the web that other search engines just can’t get to are www.completeplanet.com and www.turbo10.com
Written by Lynley Oram
This article was created: 14 June 2007.
This article was last edited: 14 June 2007.
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