Google's File Search Features: January 2002 Information Advisor Excerpt

[Infoadvis2 at aol.com]

(cross posted: apologies for any duplication)

Greetings Information Professionals,

Below is an excerpt from an article in the January 2002 issue of The 
Information Advisor, which examined the strategic use of Google's new file 
search capabilities. 
If there are questions or comments, feel free to call or email me directly at 
rberkman at aol.com.

The full article provides additional information on other Google search 
strategies including searching for email addresses, pinpointing specific 
pages in large sites, and Boolean search tips.  (Other articles in the 
January 2002 issue include: a review of Dialog's new Company Profiles 
database, with a comparison against LexisNexis' Company Dossier and 
Skyminder; and a review of HearingRoom.com's live transcription service of 
Congressional Committee hearings).

Robert Berkman
Editor
The Information Advisor
www.informationadvisor.com
Falmouth MA
508-540-5185
rberkman at aol.com

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(Excerpt from the January, 2002 Information Advisor)
Google Goes Where No Search Engine Has Gone Before
 
While not making a big announcement about it, Google announced that it had 
added indexing of not only HTML and PDF files but other file formats as 
well-notably Microsoft Word (.doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf), PowerPoint 
(.ppt), Excel (.xls) and PostScript (.ps) files. This goes a long way toward 
indexing more of the "invisible Web" that has until now been off-limits to 
search engines.

In our tests, we found that these new file types were quite substantive and 
potentially of high value to the business researcher. , we found the 
following kinds of documents and materials appeared most often, in order of 
frequency:

·   Word documents: Resumes, press releases, company announcements, court 
transcripts, student papers, research reports, news briefings, agendas, 
company literature, government documents

·   PowerPoint documents: Conference, seminar and forum presentations; school 
papers, investor presentations, company brochures

TIP: You might consider focusing on PowerPoint files when you need timely 
statistics on a fast-moving industry. Many conference presentations begin 
with an industry overview, including the latest numbers and trends. To 
further limit to only the most recent presentations, you can either use 
Google's date limiting feature or add the current year to your search 
statement, which will increase the odds that you'll find a presentation that 
has a title or is referenced with the current date (e.g., "market share" 
wireless Europe 2001 filetype:ppt).

·   Excel documents: Very few retrieved. They included a company presentation 
and a quarterly earning report from a company's investor center. Although we 
did not turn up many Excel files, Lesley Watson, masters information 
resources manager at the Securities Institute of Australia, told us she found 
searching for Excel files on Google useful for finding financial analysis 
simulations for various subjects and industries, which she uses in courses 
she teaches.

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The Information Advisor, (http://www.informationadvisor.com) an international 
monthly journal founded in 1987, is a guide for information professionals who 
rely on its articles to help them identify, compare, and select the best 
business sources from the myriad of information products and services 
available, whether in print, on a professional database or on the Web.

Readers include business librarians, information brokers, market researchers, 
knowledge managers, competitive intelligence professionals and other hands-on 
researchers and information specialists. The January 2002 issue is available 
to non-subscribers for $20. Contact Ms. Sonia Bedikian at (212) 633-4539 or 
at sbedikian@ findsvp.com for further details.

Also published by The Information Advisor is the "Best of the Business Web" 
E-letter, a free monthly e-mail alert identifying the five best business 
research sites found by the editor every month. To sign up, visit: 
www.bestbizweb.com.

The Information Advisor is published by FIND/SVP, Inc. the global business 
advisory, research, and consulting firm (www.findsvp.com)