Most information resides in online databases (also known as the invisible or deep web). Hence, search engines can only find information on the visible web. Compared to other search engines like Google, the invisible web contains actual data or information such as articles, abstracts and citations, census data, patents, etc. Most importantly, it gives reliable, up-to-date information.
Similar to most search engines, the invisible web supports Boolean operators, phrase and proximity searches, Advanced search and truncation.
Hence, I think the invisible web is as effective as other search engines such as Google. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. As such, the effectiveness of each of them depends on the information you are looking for!
If you are researching on a familiar topic, a search engine or meta search engine is recommended. If you are researching on an unfamiliar topic, use a subject directory as it allows you to browse through relevant links. And if you are researching for specialized information, use invisible web (databases like EbscoHost) or intelligent agents.
Another example of invisible web commonly known to Temasek Polytechnic students would be the TP’s Digital Library Portal site (http://spark.tp.edu.sg/). I have been using the invisible web (TP’s Digital Library Portal site) to collect articles as required for one of my module. It is definitely a convenient way to look up for data.
No comments:
Post a Comment