Web Search Engines "Made Simple"

[Dan Ream]

Louis--

Thanks for the theory. Sometimes a "my theory is..." explanation
is as satisfying--or more so--than knowing the answer ;-)

--Dan Ream

On Mon, 10 Nov 1997, Louis Rosenfeld wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Nov 1997, Dan Ream wrote:
> 
> > 
> > I too have had Linda's experience with repeated searches returning
> > different results over a brief period of time.
> > 
> > Does anyone here have a good explanation of this that you use with your
> > students/patrons/users when helping them with searches?
> > 
> > Humorous replies welcome, as well as serious!
> > 
> > --Dan Ream
> >   Head, Instruction & Outreach Services
> >   Virginia Commonwealth University Library
> >   Richmond, Virginia, USA
> 
> The obvious reason is demo-itis.  This sort of problem only happens in
> public situations, and is not reproducible in the privacy of one's own
> cubicle.
> 
> Seriously, a (very wild) guess is that there are a number of servers that
> serve Alta Vista's database behind the scenes, and for various reasons
> these databases aren't fully synched.  Perhaps you and your student were
> using different servers without realizing it.  Not sure that this
> explanation is even technically possible, but it's worth a guess.
> 
> Louis Rosenfeld                                             lou at argus-inc.com
> Argus Associates, Inc.                                   http://argus-inc.com
> 109 Catherine Street                                   voice: +1.313.913.0010
> Ann Arbor, MI  48104  USA                                fax: +1.313.213.8082
> 
> Information Architecture for the World Wide Web  (L. Rosenfeld & P. Morville)
> O'Reilly & Associates; Jan 1998.      http://www.ora.com/catalog/infotecture/
> 
>