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

by Randolph Hock (Author), Gary Price (Foreword) "In writing this book, I have made the assumption that the reader knows the most basic of the Internet basics-what it is, how to get..." (more)
Key Phrases: main search box, advanced search page, extreme searcher, Open Directory, Library of Congress, Google Groups (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"As a high-profile Internet trainer of long experience, with both library and information industry experience, Hock is well qualified." -- Library and Information Science Research

"Ran Hock is the Mario Andretti of Web searching." -- Chris Sherman, coauthor, The Invisible Web

Review

"A phenomenal resource for both extreme and not-so-extreme researchers. Great tips, clear explanations, and years of expertise distilled into 250 pages of clear, engaging text. This book should be on every searcher's desk."  —Mary Ellen Bates, coauthor, Researching Online for Dummies

"Hock has established an enviable reputation for his series of books about search engines and online searching. They are always detailed, insightful, and up to date. This book continues that tradition of excellence."  —Online Information Review

"[Hock's] clear and useful guide will help anyone interested in going beyond Google, explaining when, why, and how best to use various search tools and other Web resources."  —Library Journal

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Information Today, Inc.; 1 edition (February 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910965684
• ISBN-13: 978-0910965682
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #536,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good advice lost in the details..., February 25, 2005

By	Steven B. (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

As the author points out in this book's introduction, Internet searching gets more difficult as the number of Web pages on the Internet increases. Finding what you want isn't simply a matter of entering the right keywords in a search engine. You need to know how to search and which search engine will work best for you. You need to know where to start on the Internet if the information you are searching for can be found without using a search engine or is found on what the author calls "the invisible Web," the part of the Internet that hasn't been mapped and indexed by search engines.

"The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook" is a practical-advice guide to Internet searching. The author looks at Web directories and search engines and tells you where to start when you are doing different kinds of research. There is also advice for conducting research in newsgroups and mailing lists, as well as a catalogue of online references such as encyclopedias and dictionaries. A chapter on news sources and online shopping Web sites rounds out the book.

If you are patient, you can get a lot of good advice from this book. I discovered, for example, that one search engine, AltaVista, permits "NEAR" searches for keywords within ten words of one another on Web pages. I didn't know this kind of search was available. I also discovered a handful of excellent directories and Web sites for conducting Internet research.

However, this book doesn't serve well as a reference. The headings are not particularly descriptive, which makes finding information difficult. The author does a good job of explaining each search engine's features, but the features are presented in long bulleted lists, which makes it hard to compare the search engines. A table in Chapter 4 attempts to compare different search engines, but the table is so crowded with data, it is nearly impossible to read or understand.

The author rightfully points out that Internet researchers often neglect newsgroups and mailing lists in their research, but his instructions for searching for newsgroups with Google are out of date and he doesn't explain how to use Outlook Express or another newsgroup reader to subscribe to newsgroups. Worse, he lumps Yahoo! groups in with newsgroups, when really the two are quite different, as Yahoo! groups are held privately by Yahoo! members (and for that matter, the author might have considered explaining how to create a Yahoo! group on your own). Only three pages are devoted to mailing lists. I think this topic could've used more attention.

The author obviously knows his stuff and is passionate about helping others conduct research on the Internet. I just wish this book was organized more carefully and was professionally published. As another reviewer noted, a graphic image (of a leaf?) obscures the page numbers. That is unforgivable in a reference book like this one, where you often have to consult the index and turn to a particular page. I got angry more than once at not being able to tell which page I was looking at.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable guide to searching the web, December 1, 2006

By	Pen "dr__007" - See all my reviews

I was looking for the second edition of this book, which is perhaps some indication of how valuable I consider the first edition to be! Yes, the other reviewers have some good points, the page numbers are hard to read, some of the information in the tables is not so clear... but hang on... you do get over 200 pages stacked with information, tips, tools, references and explanations of how things work on the web. I can't vouch for everything's accuracy and I'm sure with developments it will get dated, but mine is well used copy that I read front to back and made notes in the margins, highlighted sites etc. To think that you wouldn't buy a book that is this good, stacked with useful information because you couldnt read the page numbers is a little crazy.

Anyone who's ever used a Microsoft product to an advanced level realises that most people only ever use maybe 1-5% of the product's capability, blissfully unaware of it's power and possibilities... likewise, most people think that good research is as simple as hiting a few key words into Google. Understand how Google works (it's not difficult) and you take your searching to a whole new level... even for a novice searcher...

The book is loaded with information - want to know where to find an archive of a web page from years back even though it has changed over time...look in the book, want to find a presentation on the internet done by the author of your favourite website... look in the book... want to find the companies that link to your website or your competitors? ... simple... you'll find many more gems in this book. Moreover, the author updates links etc on his website.

I've tried some of the other supersearcher books and they dont have the depth of content that this one does. I'd still buy it today for the gems I've gotten out of this one, it has given me far more value than its meagre list price. You may also find vaulable Mary Ellen Bate's book Building and Running a successful Research Business which also has some great search tips and strategies.

Highly recommended.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you search the web, you need this book, January 29, 2004

By	Mary E. Bates "[e-mail]" (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wow. Ran Hock's done it again. I'm a jaded, long-time web researcher, but I opened up this book and wondered how I'd managed before now. Ran offers detailed descriptions of search engines and their key features, techniques for finding multimedia content, reviews of the major web directories, tips for searching news, and even a nice "Internet reference shelf." This book should be on every web searcher's desk.