Welcome to: This is the work of David Novak - a leading researcher in the field of internet search skills. Join me as we explore how to gather better information now that we know how to use a search engine. This site has a long history and a fair portion of the many advances in internet search technique were first innovated and released here. I think you will find this topic far more involved, and far simpler, than you imagine. Welcome... to better ways to find information. The Complete CD Beyond Surfing. as a single 72minute mp3 Beyond Surfing by David Novak is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.       audio introduction  (about) The first step for all searchers is to understand the interplay of Precision and Prominence. These 50+ pages are drawn from David's book: Internet Informed: Guidance for the Dedicated Searcher Chapters on Precision & Prominence Licensed under a Creative Commons attrib-noncom-noderiv license. Pass it around. View it using Gentium, the preferred font. scripts.sil.org/gentium                 Time to let this book loose. Search skills develop slower than computer tech, so it remains relevant. I present it here as a single pdf file (332 pages) or as 9 hours of audio mp3. It is certain to make you a better searcher. Internet Informed: Guidance for the Dedicated Searcher by David Novak of The Spire Project. ISBN: 978-0-9757299-1-5   332 pages.   158mm x 234mm.   Price: AUD$60 Table of Contents   cover image   back cover image To order a physical copy, send an email using this form below. The latest copy will always reside here. The Complete : Internet Informed: Guidance for the Dedicated Searcher Read as a single PDF document (2Mbytes/334pages) Listen as an Audiobook (260Mbytes/9.5 hours)   Internet Informed ch00 Prologue   Internet Informed ch01 Precision   Internet Informed ch02 Prominence   Internet Informed ch03 Quality   Internet Informed ch04 Identity   Internet Informed ch05 Haste   Internet Informed ch06 Structure   Internet Informed ch07 Attention   Internet Informed ch08 Utopia   Internet Informed ch09 Pursuit   Internet Informed ch10 Choreography   Internet Informed ch11 Epilogue   Internet Informed ch12 Audio endnote         [Download an archive of all these audio files.] Internet Informed by David Novak, in both pdf and mp3, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. This website tends to address the skills needed by skilled internet users but if you are new to thinking your way through a search, here are some introductory documents:         A gentle start to internet search theory.         Search engines need finesse.         The Information Research FAQ  (description)         Finally, wrap your mind around these three simple search concepts: Feedback Research, Geography andSearch tool bias. We've tried library talks. A good talk will fill an auditorium but we'd need some persuading to return to this format. It is strictly large talks and paid seminars now. I've gained the experience by speaking at libraries (and in seminars to librarians but that is another story). I am just unconvinced library talks have a long-term impact on our world. Instead, I'd like to look for opportunities to talk at tech festivals. That would be fun - and impactful. If you have a lead to such an event, please do tell. I am also interested in volunteered translation assistance for recently and soon-to-be released material, as happened with the FAQ years ago. Many of the TECHNIQUES we use today to reach beyond search engines, many techniques you will soon find invaluable, first emerged here. Techniques like using Google's hidden field search to reveal context or using the link field search to reveal link companions. Try your hand at these few:     Non-linear searching     Deep URL Interpretation     Attention to context/format/source     Google's hidden direct field searches     Hacking the URL     Anticipating information     Substructures like        link companions Understanding QUALITY is also critical to searching the internet - and thankfully, the internet is the most quality transparent medium we have. Here are some older, general thoughts that led to their development. Plagiarism Therapy OR What? 10 Billion or more The growth of the internet         should still scare you Coming Confusion The Third Avenue Feeling Lost? Getting Found Information Value Falls More than a search engine Internet-savvy librarians Information Pollution Commercial Information,       Publicly Funded

National Statistical AgenciesSearching PatentsSearching the WebCountry Profiles
Articles on:Optimizing Windows & Manipulating Forms to Improve Research (as it appeared in ONLINE)
Two tools: Unified Search Plus and Spire Project Light

We must also consider CHOREOGRAPHY. Something of the internet and the way we search pushes us towards mediocre, general information. Yet brilliant resources fill the internet. The best information demands not only skill and technique but also a willingness to demand more of the internet - a willingness to ask challenging, comprehensive questions.
Part of this is simply anticipatinginformation and asking the right questions. It also involves attending to the evolution of our search question, search tool bias and where our questions lead us. Keep in mind:
    Creative synthesis is faster than invention but demands serious information skills.
    Instead of searching for information, we may be searching for a footpath.
    How we ask our questions also depends on the medium. We ask different sorts of questions on the internet.

Lastly, look to the ENVIRONMENT. The more we understand, the more we will realize how and why information flows as it does. With this understanding grows our opportunities to bend the internet to our wishes. For example, learning to search, we also learn how to be found.     A sociological approach to information Serendipity and an old White Paper on Internet Promotion

This site emerges from years of work, years of conversation and from many specific studies into the organization of the internet - studies like David's early census now sitting in an archive.
I publish the occasional significant article like Evolution of Internet Research: Shifting Allegiances, a cover article for ONLINE.
Even before the arrival of the web,I taught Internet seminars from the State Library of Western Australia.
From '97, I wrote the Information Research FAQ, the first internet document to take a serious look at internet search technique. It was enormously famous at the time - and I'm still fond of it.
Between '97 and 2000, I prepared 20 separate articles listing resources and an idealized search approach for formats like books, periodicals and patents, each listing internet, library and commercial resources and each thick with embedded forms.
I create or adapte various search tools like the Unified Search Plus.
And I presented several series of seminars to the librarian community between '98 and 2008 in places like Wellington and Canberra.
You can see I have been at this a very long time.Iam an old information researcher who crossed over, very early, to focus on internet search skills. A graduate in Sociology, in one sense, I have spent the last ten years studying the sociology of internet information. I remain unattached to a library or university though I owe a great debt of thanks to the many libraries who share their resources with me.

 

Before you depart, let me offer one further chance to learn internet search skills - the next time I publish a book or deliver a seminar near you. Drop me an email or leave me your contact details and I'll keep you informed. I'll also draw your attention towards this copyright statement - generous permission to use some of what you see here in your work. ...This form will send David Novak an email ... Reality Check: Please type these lettershere: Dear David, ...Care to include your contact detail? (Phone? Email?) I promise not to spam.

Let me contact you. (by email, phone or mail)Would seminars interest you? New articles, publications? Know people I should meet? Proceed

project background © 1996-2013 The Spire Project - all rights reserved except when explicitly stated otherwise. Please forward your leads and opinions to David Novak using the form above. Information and data put forward here is supplied in good faith and entirely without expressed or implied warranty or fitness for use. Contents are simply a collection of information intended but not promised to be correct and useful, gathered from many sources with limited editorial checking. Further, these articles are the thoughts of the authors alone and may not represent the beliefs of others involved. Oh, and here is a link to a friend Singer Bernadette Robinson who needs prominence, and a growing relationship with a great techy Australian Call Centre at OracleCMS.com.