This newsletter grew out of the conversations that Google had with librarians who visited the Google booth at last summer’s 2005 ALA conference. This issue includes an article by Karen G. Schneider, the Director of the Librarians’ Internet Index, and an article by a Google software engineer, Matt Cutts, on just how does Google determine which Web sites are most “trusted”.

To view the newsletter:
http://www.google.com/librariannewsletter/0106

Google introduces two new search tools. “The two new devices work like the Google Mini search appliance introduceda year ago, which has the capacity to search 100,000 documents and sells
for $2,995.”

from
http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,107671,00.html?source=NLT_PM&nid=107671

An introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life, in everyday places such as on the farm:

http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/farm/main.html

ToxSeek (http://toxseek.nlm.nih.gov/) is a meta-search engine that enables simultaneous searching of many different information resources on the World Wide Web. The ToxSeek user interface allows selection of resources from a wide range of authoritative sources in these categories:

ToxSeek uses natural language processing and artificial intelligence to retrieve, integrate, rank, and present search results as coherent and dynamic sets. ToxSeek searches across diverse biomedical and environmental health resources and so provides a way to efficiently locate information resources on topics related to toxicology and environmental health.

Full particulars can be found at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/ovarian_ip_chemo.html

Here is some info about a search engine that will be added to the next edition of the NN/LM Super Searcher class.

http://www.lexxe.com/

Laboratory experiments have revealed that Lexxe is 50% more accurate and relevant, and 50% more efficient than any other search engines in the world (including Google) and this efficiency rate is growing. For example, if one spent 3 minutes to find 4 pieces of information, he or she could have spent 2 minutes on Lexxe. The more one uses Lexxe (say 20 individual searches), the more obvious one will feel about Lexxe’s efficiency, thanks to Lexxe’s superior search accuracy in information relevance.

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/seek-and-ye-shall-find/seek-and-ye-shall-find-top-ten-alternative-search-engines-143293.php
by Wendy Boswell

Next to email, search is Internet users’ primary activity. But most people don’t realize that there’s a LOT more search engines out there than just the Big Four: Google, Yahoo, AOL, or MSN. In fact, there are literally hundreds of really great niche, or vertical, search engines that focus on all kinds of topics: images, jobs, Bit Torrents, blogs, etc. You can find all sorts of great stuff using these alternative search engines that you might not be able to find on the more general, Big Box-type of search engines; plus, most of these niche search engines have really interesting features that are fun to play with.

Take a look.

In December, NLM added another enhancement to MedlinePlus. This enhancement provides access to information on herbs and dietary supplements in English and Spanish: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

See the following link for a tip on how to retrieve all citations from a particular journal issue in PubMed: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/nd05/nd05_skill_kit.html.

PDA savvy PubMed users may also want to use the PubMed Journal Browser provided at the PubMed for Handhelds Website: http://pubmedhh.nlm.nih.gov/nlm/pubmed/jbrowse.html

For details on this award, visit the following website. All libraries are eligible: http://www.nclis.gov/news/pressrelease/pr2005/2005-13HealthAwardsDeadline.pdf