Is my search engine test for ?only?, SEARCH RESULTS,  the best? . . .
If not, what is a better test?  I type in medicalcountries.com and
click search in 20 search engines and note the quantity, quality, and
relevancy of the search result. Note!!!!  I am not researching the
bells and whistles the search engine may have. I just want to evaluate
the search results. (Excite and MSN don?t perform well by these
criteria). If you have a better method I will test it. Your method
must provide more of the said criteria. (my criteria).  Just saying no
is not an answer. You must provide a better test than I have
suggested!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember, I do not want to use a search term
that provides hundreds of results, because I cannot evaluate a search
engine 100?s results. The search term, medicalcountries.com, used to
evaluate search engines, provides just the right number of hits. But,
what is your idea?

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 27 Aug 2005 09:35 PDT

What is best for a given person depends, I think, on what the person
normally searches for -- both in terms of topic and form of the
search.

Someone who often searches for information about a domain name (in
other words, a website) may find the test you proposed a good one. 
(I'd only add that the person might wish to try several searches, to
make sure that the results for medicalcountries.com aren't a fluke.) 
Perhaps someone who searches for single keywords to find information
about any object would find it a good test as well.  But someone who
typically searches for multiple terms, or for topics other than
discrete sites or objects, might not.

Are you interested in search engines that are best for you?  If so,
could you indicate the types of searches you typically enter (to the
extent that you feel comfortable in revealing that information here)? 
Or are you interested more in search engines that are best for the
most common type of user?  Or perhaps search engines for a broad
spectrum of users?

---

Clarification of Question by ed777-ga on 28 Aug 2005 05:47 PDT

Your question on my question causes me to think more and analyze my
goals, hopes, aspirations, and lazy fantasies.   My lazy fantasies
would tell me that there is ?ONE? search engine that does it all.
Thus, all I would have to do is go to this best search engine and my
problems would be solved. This is certainly not true with people. The
eminanent scientist may know nothing of the subject one is seeking
information about. But, the garbage collector, or the criminal, etc.
may have the answer. So my conclusion, possibly the fantasy, the rash
hope, that there is one search engine that may have ?ALL? the answers
is the hope of a fool. Me !!!

 Your analytical query or statement: ?What is best for a given person
depends, I think, on what the person normally searches for -- both in
terms of topic and form of the search? is really the answer and a
non-answer. (But, clearly adds clarity to the question) You further
ask: ?Are you interested in search engines that are best for you?  If
so, could you indicate the types of searches you typically enter (to
the extent that you feel comfortable in revealing that information
here)? Or are you interested more in search engines that are best for
the most common type of user?  Or perhaps search engines for a broad
spectrum of users??


  All of the above! But, thanks again for bringing rationality to this
subject and pointing out that I need to be specific in my question and
search. Frequently I am looking for medical information in a language
I do not speak. For example: Who are the board certified physicians,
in all areas of medicine, in Mexico, and how do I get a list of such
people that I can give to people who do speak this language, Spanish?
And, provide such people with one or more web links to such
information? If one tries to use the Internet translation tools one
finds they are frequently not useable. Thanks again! Your questions
have been a joy, and suggests that there may be a best engine for a
specific question, or a section of a one of more specific search
engines may provide one's needed answer, or you may have something
else in mind.

---

Clarification of Question by ed777-ga on 29 Aug 2005 07:31 PDT

I feel you have answered my question and should apply to be paid. Your
questions were stimulating and your answer and question deserves 5
stars. But, if you have further comment, please do so!!!!!

Hello ed777,

I'm glad I have answered your question.

I do not speak or read Spanish, so I couldn't provide much insight
into the best search engines for that language.  (I presume that the
questions listed in my initial post would be similar for search
engines that focus on Spanish-language resources.)

But like you, I sometimes search for information in languages I do not
speak.  It's difficult, but in some cases possible.  I think it's one
of the greatest challenges a search-engine user can face.  You need
skill, luck, and typically persistence.

Taking the example of board-certified physicians in Mexico, I might
start by seeing whether the Mexican government has relevant pages in
English.  The very first search might be: mexico government
physicians.  If I were very lucky, my initial set of searches could
lead me to an answer for the question, particularly if the government
site makes it easy to obtain the Spanish-language version of the
relevant English-language page.  If I were a little less lucky, I
might still get some valuable information, such as the names (in
English or Spanish) of the boards that certify physicians.

My next step might be to search for terms in English on Google (which
is my personal favorite search engine).  I would hope that someone has
provided a good resource in English.

I could also try to include terms in Spanish, either from a Web
translation tool or from my initial research, alongside the English
terms.  That would pick up resources that use both English and Spanish
(such as the English and Spanish names of a board that certifies
physicians).

The more I learn from my initial searches, the more terms I would have
for my later searches.

If Google isn't coming up with the pages I need, I might try a
metasearch engine such as Ixquick (http://www.ixquick.com/).  That
way, I could get a fairly good survey of what other search engines say
about my queries.  I could also try another broad search engine such
as Yahoo!, or a more focused search engine such as on a site
concerning physicians in Mexico or throughout the world.

It can get more complicated than that.  But the key points are that I
hope that I'll find the right search engine and search terms to obtain
the answer right away, but that for a complicated question, I expect
to do multiple searches, perhaps on multiple search engines.  As you
can see from the unanswered questions on Google Answers, even Google
Answers Researchers cannot easily find the answers to everything.  But
with the skill, luck, and persistence that I mentioned earlier, many
answers can be found.  (And if they can't be found via search engines,
they might be found at a library, or from the scientist or the garbage
collector as you mentioned.)

Part of what I call "skill" is to choose the best search engines or
web resources for the task.  I tend to use Google first for most
questions because I think it's good for many tasks.  But if you're
curious about other search engines and search techniques, you might
consult some of the resources on the following page (such as those
listed under "Search Engine News"):

"Tool Kit for the Expert Web Searcher" (developed and maintained by Pat Ensor)
Library & Information Technology Association
http://www.lita.org/ala/lita/litaresources/toolkitforexpert/toolkitexpert.htm

- justaskscott

I was pleased with justaskscott-ga amswers.thoughts,and ideas which
stimulated my day!!!