[Search-l] Role of Users

[Fred Bauder]

-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Bauder [mailto:fredbaud at waterwiki.info]
Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2007 09:06 AM
To: search-l at wikia.com

Let's think a little bit about how users fit into the scheme. I use google quite a bit; I'm not going to use a start-up since I'm there to get information, not fool around. I find good sources, and totally inappropriate sources on most searches. I often click on useless sources and have to backtrack. That information is not worth much as the source might be useful, if I wanted the information that was in it. Then usually, I find a source that has got the dope, perhaps it is so good that I bookmark it.

If there was software on my computer which monitors my search, I could flag results for this project, links worth spidering could be collected, etc. For example I was looking up trees appropriate for a certain location for the town I live in. My search was 'apricot "drought-resistant" tree' and found this site:

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/trees/handbook/th-3-71.pdf

Absolutely first rate.

Here's another great one:

http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/lbakken/forest/comm_forestry/doc/PDF/TreesforND.pdf

These are both PDF files, Google offers html version, but that is another issue.

By the way, I come from the Wikipedia side of this project; I once looked at a serious book on search engine design, but soon gave that up. The role we will play depends on having something to work with, at least a minimum system being up and available. Right now, there is nothing but a mailing list, which does not discuss anything I understand, other than that press releases, or criticisms of them, are not a search engine.

Fred