Customer Reviews

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide for the Serious Searcher

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Rand Hock does it again. This thoroughly updated version (I've had the previous two) is a terrific start to using the web as a research tool. From portals to search engines to listservs to a/v file sources, Hock does a masterful job of not only pointing you in the right direction, but giving you the context for the search so that you can feel more comfortable the next time.

Looking for something on the Internet and need more than the results you find with a quick Google or Bing search? If so, this might be just the book you are looking for. "The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook: A Guide For The Serious Searcher" by Randolph Hock is touted as the essential guide for anyone who uses the internet for research - librarians, teachers, students, writers, business professionals, and others who need to search the web proficiently. The book provides strategies and tools (including search engines, portals, and social networks) for all major areas of internet content. The author explains how and when to go beyond the leading search engines and offers techniques for using Web 2.0 resources like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and more.

Here is the really great thing about this book. Hock has organized it very well, so you can easily find what you are looking for, and the book is also written for everyone. Don't worry, you don't need to be a computer geek to understand this book. In fact, it is written for the non techie or geek, and for anyone who just wants to use the internet and web to locate information. Again, the book is organized well. It starts with a detailed table of contents, then a listing of the figures and tables in the book, a foreword and then introduction that includes a brief overview of the chapters and some advice on proceeding. There is also a page about the web page that accompanies this book that you will most likely want to check out. I'm planning on using it.

The book is divided into ten chapters that focus on the basics for the serious searcher; directories and portals; the basics about search engines; more specifics about search engines; discussion groups, forums, newsgroups, and their relatives; an internet reference shelf; sights and sounds, or how to find images, audio and video; news resources; finding products online, and your own place on the web, participating and publishing. All of these chapters contain many websites and a lot of practical information regarding finding what you are looking for. There are so many different places to look for things, and this guide really does help you figure out the best places to look for what you need. In the back, there is a list of all the sites covered in the book, and if you visit the accompanying website, the links are provided there.

Easy enough for the novice, but with ideas that even experts may not know about, this book contains the information to make anyone an advanced expert at finding things on the internet, or in other words, an extreme searcher.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks.

This was a required text for a university course dealing with databases and webliogrphies. This book was a great indtroduction for a novice like myself. I highly recommend it.

I've known Ran Hock for close to twenty years, and together with Mary Ellen Bates (MEB) who is still very active and Reva Basch who is retired (see their last books below), Ran is one of the top folks in the independent information brokerage domain, at least that I know. Arno Reuser, the genius librarian and top Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) pioneer in Europe still tells me that just listening to Ran Hock once a year (he was always the pre-conference to my conference) made him appear to be the most intellegent searcher in his organization for another year...Arno was being modest, he is his own pioneer, but the point is important. Ran Hock remains the one person I would consider essential for training a cadre to make proper use of the Internet.

Use the Inside the Book section to study for yourself what is in the book. The price cannot be beat--this book is easily worth $75 in today's economy, but I am truly gratified that the publisher is not greedy and that is one of the factors that takes this book to 6 Stars and beyond.

Ran also offers an online Open Source Intelligence directory that remains the single most popular link from Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog.

Also Recommended:
Building and Running a Successful Research Business: A Guide for the Independent Information Professional, Second Edition
Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence: The Online and Offline Secrets of Top CI Researchers (Super Searchers series)
Online Competitive Intelligence, 2nd Edition: Increase Your Profits Using Cyber-Intelligence

And in Commercial Intelligence:
Measuring the Effectiveness of Competitive Intelligence: Assessing & Communicating CI's Value to Your Organization
Keeping Abreast of Science and Technology: Technical Intelligence for Business
Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition
Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World (Wiley)
The Secret Language of Competitive Intelligence: How to see through & stay ahead of business disruptions, distortions, rumors & smoke screens

As a "newbie" to information research I realized there was so much more I needed to learn. This book taught me how to use search engines effectively and efficiently. It also contains links to valuable websites. Great find!

This is such a valuable resource for anyone that spends time surfing the internet. This book shows you how to get more out of your searching experience and actually have a higher chance of finding exactly what you are looking for. I highly recommend this book.

It is a self explanatory book that highlights main points in detail for complete understanding.