Open Text Index
Open Text is a very nice system which provides 3 search interfaces with
increasingly powerful features. Simple Search accepts multiple keywords
as a phrase or Boolean Linked, Power Search is based on complex Boolean
queries and can specify which portions of a document to search, and the
Weighted Search interface searches for multiple keywords but allows the
user to assign a relative weight each term when displaying the result set.
Key Links
URL for Front Page:
http://www.opentext.com/omw/f-omw.html
URLs for Forms Search Pages:
URL for Copyright
Page: http://www.opentext.com/omw/f-copyright.html
URL for FAQ Page:
http://www.opentext.com/omw/f-faq.html
URL for Help
Page: http://www.opentext.com/omw/f-hlp-simple.html
Home Organization: Open Text
Corporation
Organization
- The Open Text Index is strictly a searchable database of Web documents.
- The Web crawler and search engine are based on custom software products
sold by the Open Text corporation.
- Among the 3 engines, users can perform: multiple keywords or phrases,
complex Boolean queries, proximity searching, and weighted searches.
- The query software does not perform any sort of suffix management (you
must enter in all variations of a keyword, such as plurals or alternate
spellings), nor does it support wildcards or regular expressions.
- Both the Power Search and Weighted Search interfaces allow the user
to specify what portions of a file to search for each keyword: fulltext,
summary,
- There are no limits placed on the number of query terms or number of
results returned for any given query.
- The data indexed in the database are Web pages, gopher links, and FTP
files, but are not restricted by content.
Administration
- The database is maintained by automated search software which adds,
removes, and updates links periodically.
- Queries tend to return within about 5-10 seconds.
- The database contains the fulltext of 5 Million Web documents, and
indexes new links at the rate of 10s of thousands.
- Each of the search pages is very simple and easy to use, although it
is rather difficult to navigate to the Weighted Search page or other
pages not included in the navigation graphic.
- Additional Services
- The service provides help for each kind of search interface:
Simple
Search,
Power Search,
and Weighted
Search help pages.
- Amoung the search pages, there is a
search
tutorial, to help new users get started with some of the simple
features, and learn some of the more powerful toos.
- The navigation graphic, although a bit large, is very modest and
easy to use. However, there are many useful services that are not
represented within the graphic.
- Users are encouraged to
submit pages
for indexing in the database.
- Search results include a URL, hyperlink, document title, extract,
and a "search score". Each result includes a link for generating
related queries, as well as a summary document which describes the
keyword matches and how that document fell into the result set.
This collection is Copyright © 1995-6 by Matt Slot, but has been designed
for public use. Permission is hereby granted for unlimited print and electronic
redistribution. Your feedback is
appreciated.
Matt Slot *
fprefect@ambrosiasw.com *
3/23/96