 Meta Search
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Last month I discussed various major search engines, and how each could provide a different view of what is available on the Internet. Perhaps the most useful of all the online search sites are the Meta searchers. Rather than depending on a single database, these search sites send your query to several search engines, then present the results to you.
Of course, the idea is not to see how many hits you can get, but rather to find results that have the data you need. With Internet traffic doubling every four months, the amount of information to track is amazing indeed. Good tools can give a firm a real advantage in staying informed, without being overwhelmed.
Software that enables you to Meta search the Internet from your desktop has several advantages. You can customize it, choose the data sources it evaluates, and store the results in forms that are best suited for your needs.
One of the most interesting new packages to be released is Infoseek Express (http://express.infoseek.com/). Designed by the search engine Infoseek, this free software has a superior interface to most of the online Meta search engines, and offers a great deal of customizability.
Queries are simultaneously submitted to AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo!. Results are ranked by speed or relevance, and listed with your keywords highlighted in yellow.
As you browse the returned summaries, placing a check mark next to the most interesting ones causes them to begin downloading to your browser in the background. When you have finished reviewing the search results, switch to the View Results tab, and all the sites you checked are already downloaded, waiting to be viewed.
Meta searching may be used for more than just web sites. Infoseek Express also searches top news sites, weather, sports, newsgroups, yellow and white pages, e-mail addresses as well as maps and driving directions. Even job searching is easier than ever. And Express is customizable, allowing experienced users to change the program to search the way they want it to.
The software installs in such a way as to be completely integrated with your browser. A button is placed next to your location box, and clicking causes the program to load in your browser window. Currently available for Window 95/98/NT, it is designed to work with Netscape or Explorer, version 3 or higher.
As a further bonus, Infoseek is offering branded versions as part of its marking effort. It's a fairly simple job to create a version with your sites logo and selected links in an area of your choice. (http://express.infoseek.com/cobrand.html)
If the advertiser-supported software model is not to your taste, several commercial Meta searching packages are on the market.
IntelliSeek, Inc., introduced BullsEye in September. This $149 package accesses more that 300 data sources on the web to produce its search results. It automatically eliminating duplicates, irrelevant and dead links, and can automate information tracking - including Web sites, URLs, discussion groups and saved searches. It even offers Intelligent Alerts, which it can send to you via e-mail or pager messages every time any information being tracked on the Web changes.
Aimed at professional searchers, BullsEye may be a bit daunting to use initially, but can produce powerful results. A free 30-day trial version is available to download from the IntelliSeek web site (http://www.intelliseek.com/).
Agents Technologies (http://www.copernic.com/) offers Copernic 98. It's Meta searching engine gathers data from more than 130 information sources which are grouped in about 20 "channel sets" such as the web, newsgroups, e-mails, books, business, finance, jobs, news, software, technology and travel. Users can add an unlimited number of new search engines, adding to its versatility.
Copernic's strong suite is ease of use. A free version is available that is limited to searching the web, newsgroup and e-mail searching. The full version is available for $29.95.
Everyone knows how fast the Internet is changing the availability of information of importance to lawyers, but it is also important to note how fast the Internet itself is changing. As more and more information pours on to the web each day, things will be increasingly hard to find. This makes it's imperative that lawyers follow the latest advances in search technology. The developments reviewed here are just part of the ever improving tools available to attorneys directly through the Internet.
About the Author
Stephen T. Maher is a Miami lawyer and legal educator who has practiced and taught law
for more than twenty years. He regularly writes and speaks on issues of law and
technology. After serving as a member of the full-time faculty at the University of Miami
School of Law for many years, he returned to private practice with Stephen T. Maher, P.A.
He also serves as the Director of Attorney Training at Shutts & Bowen, the oldest law
firm in Miami, and trains lawyers in law firms throughout the United States through his
consulting company, The Practical Professor Incorporated. He maintains an award winning
site on the Internet at
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