Vol 5 . . . No 3 . . . November, 1995



Comparing Rakes (WWW Search Engines)

Imagine you were researching strategies which have been used to protect or restore the salmon harvest and salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest. What happens when you feed "salmon endangered species" into each of the four search mechanisms below?

InfoSeek and Lycos proved themselves the most helpful, both because they actually identified sites with great content but also because they provided annotations which helped make it easy to decide which site or document to visit.

-------The Least Helpful . . . . . . . . . . . . .WWWW WORM

http://www.cs.colorado.edu/home/mcbryan/WWWW.html

This service was unable to process the request for "salmon endangered species." It returned no "hits."

-------Not Much Better! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WebCrawler

http://webcrawler.com

The query "salmon endangered species" found 14 documents and returned 14, Most of these article and items are only tangentially related to the research question. With a 14.4 modem connection, it might take 30 minutes to open the entire list and determine its worth (or lack of same).

100 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Research Section
082 http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/list.txt (a list of telephone #)
075 Clark-Skamania Flyfishers (political slant - not much info)
067 Animals Project (a list of animal URls for 7th graders which pointed to the Salmon Page)
048 http://www.mt.gov/commerce/travel/fishing.htm
040 ORCA What's New
037 D. James Baker Speech "My First Year at NOAA"
028 Sierra Club Web Directory
028 Prince Edward Island: Come on out, you'll love it!
025 Bureau of Land Management
011 PLANET PEACE
008 alt.fan.douglas-adams FAQ
001 http://dockmaster.phantom.com/ceo1.html
000 http://www.primus.com/staff/paulp/one-book.txt

----------- Infoseek - A winner!

http://www2.infoseek.com

Note the quality of the sites in the sample below as well as the instructive selections from the text. They even tell you the size of the page so you know what "you're getting into."

Titles: 1 through 4 of 100

Educational Bookmarks
Migration . The Salmon Page . Journey North: Migrations 1995.Journey North: Student Observations . Journey North: Satellite Telemetry . Endangered Species . Endangered Species Home Page . Endangered Species by U.S. Region . ...
--- [61] http://bush.edu/bookmarks.html (5K)

Protect Canada's Biodiversity
Eastern Prairie White-Fringe Orchid - Canadian Wildlife Service . Prevent a Biodiversity Crisis . Species Extinct and At Risk . Canopy Biodiversity-Discovering the Wealth of Life in West Coast Rainforest Treetops . Major Threats to ...
--- [61] http://www.web.apc.org/wcwild/biodiver.html (57K)

Office of Protected Resources Brochure
Protecting the Nation's Marine Species . U.S. Department of Commerce . National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . National Marine Fisheries Service . Office of Protected Resources . June 1994 National Marine Fisheries ...
--- [60] http://kingfish.ssp.nmfs.gov/prbrochure.html (8K)

House GOP Turns Sights on Endangered Species Act / Bill would erase protections ...
The San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, September 20, 1995 . Page A8
(c)1995 San Francisco Chronicle . All Rights Reserved . All Unauthorized Duplication Prohibited . Search The Chronicle Front Page The Gate . House GOP Turns Sights on Endangered ...
--- [60] http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/old/sep-20-95/MN35014.html

(6K)

--------- Lycos - Another Winner!

http://www.lycos.com

This search engine also found great sites, the first five of which are reproduced below. The search measures "adjacency" of the search terms as well as frequency. The abstract is quite detailed, providing a good idea of content as well as descriptions of major graphics and their sizes.

Found 13301 documents matching at least one search term.
Printing only the first 10 of 12430 documents with at least scores of 0.010.

Found 88 matching words (number of documents): salmon (3991), endangered (4634), species (12606), ...

1) US FWS Wildlife Species Pacific Salmon [1.0000, 3 of 3 terms, adj 0.9]
Outline: Pacific Salmon, ( Oncorhynchus spp. )
Abstract: US FWS Wildlife Species Pacific Salmon Pacific Salmon, ( Oncorhynchus spp. ) salmon1 (3.6 K image) salmon2 (3.6 K image) The upriver salmon migration is one of nature's most exciting dramas. But to the five species of Pacific salmon (chinook, chum, coho, pink, and sockeye), it is a long, strenuous, desperate race against time, with every obstacle taking its toll. Pacific salmon belong to a group called anadromous fish that includes Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, lampreys, shad, herring, sea- run cutthroat trout, and steelhead trout. These species hatch and live the first part of their lives in fresh water, then migrate to the ocean to spend their adult lives, which may be as short as 6 months or
http://www.fws.gov/bio-salm.html (8k)

2) CERES Topic: Rare and Endangered Species [0.8352, 3 of 3 terms, adj 1.0]
Outline: CERES Topic: Rare and Endangered Species Organizations Concerned with Endangered Species Endangered Species Law Data, Reports, and Other Information
Abstract: CERES Topic: Rare and Endangered Species Updated 8/23/95 Organizations Concerned with Endangered Species The California Resources Agency * California Department of Fish and Game * Wildlife Protection Division * Natural Heritage Division * Bay-Delta and Special Water Projects Division *Department of Forestry and Fire Protection * Strategic Planning Program U.S. Department of the Interior * National Biological Service U.S. Department of Commerce * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration * Office of Protected Resources * National Marine Fisheries Service Endangered Species Law * The Federal Data, Reports, and Other Information
http://resources.agency.ca.gov/topic/rare.html (4k)

3) State of the Environment Norway [0.8042, 3 of 3 terms, adj 1.0]
Outline: Endangered salmon stocks
Abstract: State of the Environment Norway - Biodiversity Endangered salmon stocks 1988-1992. Source: Directorate for Nature Management. The Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. is ecologically the most important fish species in North Atlantic rivers. Norway manage large parts of the Atlantic salmon, and is also member of the North Atlantic ... Acid rain and the salmon parasite G. salaris have been the most important reasons for eradication of salmon stocks during the last century. About 70 salmon
http://www.grida.no/soe92/esalomon.htm (2k)

4) Investigating Endangered Species in the Classroom [0.7881, 3 of 3 terms, adj 1.0]
Outline: Investigating Endangered Species in the Classroom
Abstract: Investigating Endangered Species in the Classroom This page includes starting points for teachers and classrooms to use in investigating endangered species issues. Curricula and lesson plans, information about ongoing projects students can participate in, and current conservation efforts by various organizations will help involve classrooms in learning why species become endangered and will help students participate in reversing those processes. EE-Link is interested in gathering more information on lesson plans and curricula that could be formatted for WWW. Please contact Kim Bayer if you know of curricula or lesson plans we could add here. Curricula Birds: Our Environmental Indicators An entire
http://www.nceet.snre.umich.edu/EndSpp/ES.lesson.html (9k)

5) State Lists of Endangered Species by FWS Region [0.7812, 3 of 3 terms, adj 1.0]
Abstract: U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE DIVISION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES
Click here for a Clickable Regional/State Map of the United States State Lists of Endangered Species Under Fish and Wildlife Service Jurisdiction * (by Service Region) * Region 1 - Pacific Region: *California *Hawaii *Idaho *Nevada *Oregon *Washington *American Samoa *Guam *Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands * Region 2 - Southwest Region: *Arizona *New Mexico *Oklahoma *Texas * Region 3 - Great Lakes-Big Rivers
http://www.fws.gov/~r9endspp/stat-reg.html (4k)


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