SurfWax QuickHelp: Searching with SurfWax   [ InDepth Help ]
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SurfWax InDepthHelp: Creating and Using SearchSets
Copyright 2001-2006 SurfWax, Inc. [patents pending]

To Add a New SearchSet or to Edit an existing SearchSet, first Login as a registered user and then click on My SearchSets at the top of this browser window.

A Search Source can be any search engine, web site, database, corpus, or knowledge entity that has an existing search capability. Typically a Search Source is a point of access to thousands of indexed pages within its own site or database. A Search Source is not an endpoint, but a beginning point for information. When you use a search engine such as Google, you are using just one Search Source and your results are dependent on the specific Web sites they have crawled. But there are many Web sites and sources on the Internet that may not have been crawled by the search engine you use, perhaps because that source is accessible only via password. And if you are want to search the Web along with portions of your own intranet, there is no easy way to access these disparate sources. That is, before SurfWax.

With SurfWax you can add, mix, and match a variety of Search Sources from various categories and save them together as a SearchSet. Saving a SearchSet lets you truly customize the sources you use. Depending on your User Level, you can have multiple SearchSets, each with its own sources that you have personally customized. Whenever you want to search, you can select and apply any of your SearchSets (from the popup right next to the Focus button). And you can go back into My SearchSets to add, change, rename, or delete any of your SearchSets at any time.

By using multiple such sources for your search, all at one time, you get targeted and deeper coverage. The purpose of a SearchSet is to help you conveniently apply multiple Search Sources to your search. Once you setup a SearchSet, you can re-use it over and over for your various searches. For example, if you are interested in sports injuries affecting women, you might want to create a SearchSet that you name SportsInjury and to it you add Search Sources from the categories of Sports, Health, and perhaps even Law. Each time you search on sport injuries, you would select and apply your SportsInjury set and the results you receive would be just from the Search Sources that you had added to that SearchSet.

Tips in using the My SearchSet interface:

1. Add at least one of the major search engines to each SearchSet you create.

2. Re-use your sets. Delete them when you are no longer researching that respective subject; add different sources.

3. In all cases, be sure to click "Save Changes" when you have made any changes to any of your SearchSets (add, change, delete, rename).

4. If you know of a good source (that has an existing search capability/mechanism), please click on the Recommendation link and send it to us. We will study and include all sources that we consider appropriate and accessible (see our Terms of Use).


CREATING A SEARCHSET:

  1. Click the "Add New" link located in the upper right.

    A new dialog box will open; enter a name for your new SearchSet and click OK.




  2. Load Search Source(s) into the middle column by:

    • using the Search by Keyword function to find Search Sources:



    • selecting a Category and clicking on a Sub-Category title.




  3. Now you have Search Sources in the middle column. Click on the any of the Search Sources listed, and then click the green Add or AddAll button to move that source into the right column.




    Note: Search Sources are available according to level (Free level has fewer sources available than Silver which has fewer available than Gold). Depending on your level, you may not be able to load a source into your SearchSet -- there will be two asterisks ** following a name to let you know it is a source you can't access at your current level; for example, MicrobioLeicester (Gold)** -- a brief Alert will warn you if you try to Add a source above your level. Consider moving to a higher level if you want access to the Search Sources shown with asterisks. Also, the maximum number of maximum of Search Sources that you can add to any one SearchSet is 15.

  4. If you want to give priority to any of the sources in your SearchSet, highlight that source and change its weight using the Weight popup below the SearchSet (a higher number, e.g. 100, means you will get more results from that source, so if you have a favorite within a set, give it a higher weight).





  5. Be sure to click the Save Changes button when you are done. Once you do so, the new SearchSet will appear in Sets popup, and in the search section at the top of your window:



  6. The next time you want to search using that SearchSet, select it from the popup, enter your search criteria, select how many Results you want to see and how you want them sorted, and click Search (or press Enter).




CHANGING A SEARCHSET:
  1. Select the SearchSet from the Sets popup.




  2. Add or remove Search Sources from the right column using the Add or Del buttons.

  3. Rename the SearchSet by clicking on the RN link.

  4. Always click on the Save Changes button when you are done (even if you Delete or Rename).