Good Sources: Search Engines & Directories (Part 1)

By Librarian Carl

Online search tools cover a lot of ground these days. One type of online search tool is the Search Engine, more formally referred to as a Web Search Engine. A modern search engine allows you to input one or more keywords and primarily by use of search algorithms and indexing software, often called crawlers, it produces a list of websites relevant to your search query. For most people this means, simply, you type in some words and the search engine brings up a list of web pages on your topic. The behind the scenes “software-powered” process for this is very complicated and often kept proprietary by the various search engine companies. For a more complete explanation of how search engines work, see here.

Another type of online search tool is the Directory. Web Directories rely primarily on “human-powered results” instead of "software-powered results" for cataloging and selection. A Web Directory lists webs sites by category and while most have a search option the focus is on browsing through the list. For a summary of the main difference between a search engine and a directory, see here.

Search Engines and Directories both help you find web resources about your topic of interest but do so by different methods and have different strengths and weaknesses. Search engines are often quicker and easier to use and cover more sites online than Directories. Directories have human chosen or peer-reviewed content with the goal of offering fewer but higher quality web sites and allow for serendipitous discovery that only browsing category lists can afford.

Below I have listed some of the better and larger general Search Engines and Directories. These tools are the best of the best available today and it would benefit any Internet searcher to become familiar with all of them (not just one *cough* Google *cough*).

1) Search Engines

• Google
• Yahoo
• Ask
• Live Search (MSN)
• Exalead
  

2) Directories

• Open Directory Project (ODP) (DMoz)
• Google Directory (content by ODP, organized by Google)
• Librarian’s Internet Index
• Yahoo Directory
• InfoMine
• About.com
  

3) Tips

It is a good idea to get in the habit of using multiple search engines and directories. No search engine is complete (not even Google searches the entire Internet) and all have different interfaces that allow for better or worse searching depending on what kinds of things you are searching for.


4) Learn More

• Search Engine Watch (latest in search)
• Noodle Tools (select the right search tool)
• General Guides [UC Berkley] (instructions)
• List of Search Engines (Wikipedia)
• List of Web Directories (Wikipedia)

Keep Searching,
Librarian Carl

The next two monthly posts will continue our exploration of search tools with a more detailed examination of Search Engines and their subtypes in (Part 2) and a more detailed examination of Directories in (Part 3)

BEWITCHING UPDIKE

The Reading Public Library will be hosting two book discussions of John Updike's novel, The Witches of Eastwick, both to be held on Wednesday, April 8.

The first discussion will be our Brown Bag event from 12:15 to 1:00 pm, with beverage and dessert provided by the library. The second will take place that evening, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Pre-registration is requested; you may visit the Reference Desk at the Main Library or call us at (610) 655-6355.

PLOT SUMMARY (from Wikipedia)

The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s, follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands. Their coven is upset by the arrival of a devil-like character, Darryl Van Horne. The mysterious Darryl seduces each of the women, encouraging them to play with their powers and creating a scandal in the town.

The three women share Darryl in relative peace until he unexpectedly marries their young, innocent friend, Jenny, whom they resolve to have revenge on by giving her cancer through their magic. The witches doubt their judgment after Jenny's death when Darryl flees town with her younger brother, Chris, apparently his lover. In his wake he leaves their relationships strained and their sense of self in doubt. Eventually they each summon their ideal men and leave town.

The novel was made into a popular film in 1987, with Jack Nicholson starring as Darryl, Cher as Alexandra, Susan Sarandon as Jane, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Sukie.

FALLEN ANGELS of WINTER

If you enjoy drama that does more than tear at the heartstrings--the kind that virtually eviscerates you at the very core of your soul--then you are in for an intensely emotional treat with 2007's Snow Angels.

Based on the eponymous novel by Stewart O'Nan, Snow Angels takes place in an unnamed northern state where, unsurprisingly, there is frozen precipitation aplenty. The protagonist is young Arthur Parkinson, played to clueless perfection by Michael Anganaro (whom I recognized as having played Elliott, Jack McFarland's son, on Will & Grace). Arthur is a high school student, a tuba player in the band, and an employee of his hometown's Chinese restaurant, owned by Oskar, who is decidedly not Chinese (I think he is supposed to be German).

Arthur's parents (Don, played by Griffin Dunne, and Louise, played by Jeanetta Arnette) are separating and his mother is an emotional whirlwind in the face of his professor father's egress. At work, Arthur flirts harmlessly with Annie Marchand (Kate Beckinsale in the most poignant role of her career), a waitress who spent many years babysitting young Arthur. Annie is estranged from her husband, Glenn (a blowout performance by Sam Rockwell), who has recently attempted suicide in the face of his marital woes. They have one child, four-year-old Tara, both adeptly and adorably rendered by Gracie Hudson.

New girl in school Lila Raybern takes an instant liking to Arthur; the role is handled admirably by Olivia Thirlby, who played Juno's best friend in the popular film of the same name. Lila, with her engaging chatter and delightfully retro cats'-eye glasses, waits patiently for Arthur to realize she has a significant crush on him.

A second couple, Nate and Barb Petite, find their lives hopelessly interlocked with those of Glenn and Annie. Barb, played by comedienne Amy Sedaris in an uncharacteristic dramatic role, is a fellow waitress at the Chinese eatery; Nate (played by Nicky Katt) is conducting an adulterous affair with Annie. Meanwhile, Glenn has become a rabidly born-again Christian and is busily attempting to rebuild his life by finding employment while living with his parents and aged grandfather (and let's not forget the dog, Bomber).

Suspicions fly and secrets are revealed in the ugliest possible scenarios, all of which find climax when an unthinkable tragedy befalls one of the cast and, as a result, several of the characters become lost completely.

I will advise that this movie is incredibly dark and extremely depressing, so be forewarned. Beckinsale and Rockwell, however, deliver stellar performances, and while the film may not be all sweetness and light, I would still highly recommend going out and visiting with these Snow Angels.

I HATED THIS MOVIE

Ordinarily I reserve reviews for books, music, or films that I've not only enjoyed, but that I truly wish to share with other people. "Rachel Getting Married", a movie released last year, is rather the opposite. I despised this movie so intensely I simply had to vent about it on the blog.

Anne Hathaway does herself no credit whatsoever portraying the infinitely loathable Kym Buchman in "Rachel Getting Married". A lifelong junkie who's attempted to kick drug and alcohol addiction numerous times, Kym gets a brief release from a clinic in order to nearly destroy her elder sister's nuptials.

Rosemarie DeWitt brings one of the only sympathetic characters to the film as Rachel, whose life has been spent watching her self-destructive sibling's antics decmiate their family. I had not noticed Ms. DeWitt's cruelly hawklike proboscis so much in "Mad Men", but then the camera angles in "R.G.M." were rather unforgiving on just about every actor. Jonathan Demme, the director, utilized dizzying hand-held-camcorder shots so often I nearly reached for the Dramamine--the result was far from artistic, it was literally nauseating.

Due largely to a devastating incident within the family (caused, unsurprisingly, by a high-as-a-kite Kymmie), the parents of the bride are divorced and each has remarried. Effeminate father Paul (Bill Irwin, who's apparently a pioneer in contemporary American clowning---*cringe*) is the husband of Carol; delightfully distant mother, Abby (played beautifully by Debra Winger), is partnered with Andrew. Abby has little time for her children, maintaining distance in order to move on from her dysfunctional original clan to new horizons with her second spouse.

The majority of the movie is taken up by Kym's monotonous monologues as to how no one understands the plight of the recovering junkie. She makes an unlikely connection with Kieran (Mather Zickel), the best man at the wedding, although he can't rescue her from her obsessive need to destroy everything in her life. Kym, who has spent a majority of the recent past either in rehab or prison, even demands that Rachel remove her best friend, Emma (Anisa George), as her maid of honor and give that position to her [Kym]. There is also a scene of mind-numbing discomfort when Kym delivers a lengthy "toast" at the rehearsal dinner, which quickly transmogrifies into yet another patented "Kymmie Buchman Self-Pitying Soliloquy About HOW HARD IT IS TO BE ME".

Sidney Williams (Rachel's fiancee/husband) is played by Tunde Adebimpe, the lead singer of the group TV on the Radio (I liked his character, who was low-key and amusing). The music in this film, however, is abysmal, with ridiculously extended scenes of very strange, sitar-driven orchestrations being danced to by bored-looking cast members. The wedding itself is bizarre: the Buchmans are Jewish and the Williamses are African-American but with no particular (or at least obvious) connection to Hinduism. Yet the couple is married in a Hindu-esque environment (Indian music, the bride and her attendants wear saris, the wedding cake boasts a huge elephant...?!) that makes no sense on any level.

I couldn't have cared less about Kymmie Buchman and her angst-ridden plight of being hopelessly addicted to apparently every known amphetamine and barbituate in the world. I did feel for Rachel, though: a devoted and duty-driven daughter, yet forever cast aside in light of her sister's perpetual parade of drug-induced, self-loathing-riddled meltdowns. A part of me really hoped Kym would overdose and die before the end; unfortunately that just didn't happen...

How this particular film ended up gracing so many "Best of 2008" movie lists is thoroughly unnerving, and does nothing to hold back my final word on this drivel: spare yourself and decline the invitation to see "Rachel Getting Married".