BARE BONES 101:

---

LESSON 12:    ALTA VISTA: A Closer Look

---

DESCRIPTION:

Alta Vista is one of the largest search engines on the web. Developed by Digital Equipment Corporation in December 1995, it has powerful features and is easy to use. Recently Alta Vista recast its home page once again to look more like a search engine and less like a general-interest portal. Now, the most prominent search link connects you to the Advanced Search page which has some strong search features. The Breaking News link on the home page provides you with access to current news headlines and stories.

SEARCHES IN:

• Own web database
• LookSmart Directory and Open Directory (DMOZ), for subject categories, and in Moreover for current news

DEFAULTS TO:

AND

SEARCH OPTIONS:

Main Search Page supports:

• (+) and (-) signs
• Double quotes (" ") for phrases
• Ignoring stop words (i.e., small, common words) for purposes of ranking, unless preceded in query by a + sign or included as part of a phrase enclosed in quotes)
• Results automatically ranked and sorted for relevance
• Language options
• Prisma option, offering 12 different key words/phrases to help focus your search
• Subject directory searching for tools, web resources and marketplace sites
• Links to Image, Audio, Video, Directory, and News searches
• Links to AltaVista worldwide

Advanced Search Page supports:

• Boolean-type searching with the following options: "all of these words," "this exact phrase," and "none of these words"
• Boolean searching using Boolean operators AND, OR, AND NOT)
• Proximity operator NEAR (within 10 words)
• Ranked keyword sorting option
• Limiting search by language, timeframe, date range, location (region or domain) host or URL, and display (results per page and pages per site)
• Ignoring stop words
• Nesting, with parentheses

OTHER SEARCH FEATURES AND OPTIONS:

• Usenet news groups included in results
• Wildcard (*) truncation (type 3 characters first; use the * to stand for up to 5 characters)
• Field searching by: domain: host: image: title: url: link: text: like: anchor: applet:
  (NOTE: leave no space after the colon)
• "More pages", "related pages" options
• Up to 3 news headlines displayed above regular search results
• Automatic phrase recognition; treats adjoining words as a phrase, with or without double quotes (" ")
• All punctuation marks (dashes, underscore lines, commas, slashes, or dots) treated equally
• Quotes and plagiarized passages found through "every word indexing" technique when using quotation marks around phrases
• Translator services utilizing "Babel Fish"
• Family filter option
• Case sensitivity

---

ASSIGNMENT:

Go to AltaVista Advanced Search Page, select "all the words" option, and search for:
   +echinacea +"immune system"
Now, try the same subject as a domain search, searching only the .gov domain:
   +echinacea +"immune system"
  domain:gov

Links and text checked regularly. Latest update on 11 July 2002. This tutorial was first created in January 2000 by Ellen Chamberlain, library webweaver. Copyright © the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina. URL: http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/lesson11.html