[WEB4LIB] RE: Indexing a Local Newspaper Index on the Web

[Avi Rappoport]

I agree that MS Index is pretty funky, it also will only index files 
on a local disk, as it doesn't have a robot.  There are some nice 
alternatives, from the free open-source ht://Dig, SWISH-E and ISearch 
to Phantom which runs on NT and Mac and has a great interface, to the 
remote-search services such as Atomz and Searchbutton to the high-end 
search engines such as Ultraseek, AltaVista Search and Excalibur 
Retrievalware.

If anyone's going to OnlineWorld, I'll be talking about this on the 
27th at 2 pm, and would love to meet you there.  Or you could check 
out my web site at <http://www.searchtools.com/> for lots of 
information on this topic.

Avi

At 9:30 AM -0700 10/20/99, hodgsa at cma.ca wrote:
>I know what I'm stating is pretty obvious (to librarians!) but I would really
>consider what unique qualities your newspaper has, how you want people to find
>them and how the indexers meet those needs.
>
>We presently use MS Indexer as a site engine which searches several of our
>publications and we find it inadequate for our needs. Not only does it not
>provide field specific searching (as stated by Mark Ellis), it does not allow
>the ability to truly refine a search nor adequately display ranking
>determination. I am currently investigating other options for us.
>
>Let not easy managibility be your only guide. It can get you into trouble with
>your users! (as we are discovering...)
>
>Andrea Hodgson
>Canadian Medical Association

________________________________________________________________
Avi Rappoport, Search Tools Maven: <mailto:avirr at lanminds.com>
Guide to Site Indexing and Local Search Engines: <http://www.searchtools.com>