How to find the information you need with 'Alta Vista'
By Zatni Arbi
JAKARTA (JP): A reader from Malang, East Java, once sent me an E-mail asking if I happened to know any software programs that her daughter could use to design dresses. Unfortunately, I knew close to nothing about this type of software, except that it existed.
But luckily we had the Internet. The lady from Malang was already on the Net because she had her own E-mail address. So, I thought, why not let her explore the Web and find what she wanted to know on her own. Perhaps all she needed was a little tip to open the door for her.
We all know the World Wide Web is an enormous warehouse of information. Some of it is junk, as you're already aware. Still, there is also a vast reserve of useful information just waiting for you to look it up. Luckily there are dozens of effective tools that you can use to locate the information you need. These tools are called "search engines". You tell them what you're looking for and they will look it up for you. Some of these sites, such as Alta Vista from Digital, will look for the information inside their own gigantic index of homepages. The services they offer are free, but if you visit their sites you will be bombarded with advertisements which earns them revenue.
I was extremely fortunate to get the chance to attend a workshop on using the Internet organized by the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta some time ago. Instruction at the workshop was given by Holly Wilson, who was truly excellent. This time, while acknowledging what she taught me during that workshop, I would like to share with you the most elementary way to hunt information on the Web. I have to admit that, like many of you, I too still have a lot to learn when it comes to doing research on the Internet effectively.
Define it
To say that a good beginning is half the job may sound like a clich, but there is definitely some truth in it. The first step that we need to take before embarking on a search for information on the Web is to define what we are looking for as specifically as possible. In the case of my friend in Malang, the definition was not very difficult. What she wanted to know was already very clear. The keywords in the search should be 'fashion', 'design' and 'software'. The objective of her search was to locate all Web documents that contained all of these words.
My favorite search tool happens to be Alta Vista, a search engine provided by Digital Equipment. Let me tell you up front that it is by no means the best tool available on the Internet. I just happen to like it and so far I've found it quite useful. It is said that Digital provides the service for free in order to demonstrate the power of its Alpha processors. Whatever their reasons, the search engine is quite fast.
Of course, before I sent this reader my reply, I had to make sure that my suggestions would work. So, first I went to Alta Vista. There are a couple of ways to do this. On the homepage of my Internet Service Provider (ISP), CBNNet, there is a "Search" button that when I click with the mouse takes me to a linked page where I can choose which search engine to use. Alta Vista is the default engine at CBNNet. However, I usually just type in the address of Alta Vista in the address box of Internet Explorer: www.altavista.com. I then hit Enter and a moment later find myself in Alta Vista's home page.
I can enter keywords right on the home page or refine my search slightly by going to the Advanced Search page. It's always better to do the latter, so I click on the underlined words `Advanced Search' found just underneath the `Submit' button.
I assumed the lady wouldn't be interested in documents in languages other than English, so I narrowed down my search using this criteria. Then I typed in the keywords.
In the keyword box, I typed in the following: (fashion) and (design) and (software). I entered the keywords in brackets to make sure that the documents collected by Alta Vista contained all three keywords. Then I hit Enter and after a while got a list of over one million documents containing the three keywords. I got three million when the language was not restricted to English!
Usually the first few pages of the list are all that you need. Right at the bottom of the first page, I found the address of Info Design, the developer of Fashion Studio, a Windows-based CAD/CAM program for designing, fabric simulation, cataloging and merchandising. Perfect. Now I knew the lady from Malang would not be disappointed.
Ranked Keywords
Why put the keywords in brackets? By doing so, we're telling the search engine to find all Web documents containing all three keywords. Another common way of doing this is to place a `+' sign in front of each keyword. So instead I could have typed in `+fashion+design+software' and I would have obtained the same result.
What happens if we don't put the keywords in brackets? Suppose you type in the keywords "Zatni Arbi" in the Search box. This gives you one or two Web documents that contain the word "Zatni" and a thousand and one articles by Drs. Arbi Sanit, a respected University of Indonesia political scientist. You see, without the brackets the search engine collects all documents containing the first keyword only, then both the first and the second keywords, then the second keyword only.
What would you do if you'd like to find documents with keywords appearing right next to each other? Put them in quotation marks. So, for instance, to get all the documents containing 'The', 'Jakarta', 'Post' in that specific order, put them all in quotation marks. That will allow you to see all the documents Alta Vista has in its index that contain the exact name of The Jakarta Post.
That is just the beginning of "Web Searching 101". They are the simplest steps that you can take to get to the Web information that you need. Other more sophisticated search services, such as Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos and Yahoo! will let you employ more sophisticated strategies in order to get exactly what you want. Don't worry, we will have more opportunities to explore these tools in future articles.