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One-day course on the best web-searching techniques, at Oxford on Saturday 27th January 2007. Why is it worth you investing a little to increase the productivity of your web searching? Google for many years consistently found fewer results (eg 1.2m) for a search such as ‘airline OR airlines’ than for a search for either term separately (eg 2.1m and 1.6m). This seems to defy (Boolean) logic. Yahoo’s slightly myopic notion of history insists that users of the search engine wishing to search, say, for web sites created/up-dated in the first half of the year must extend their period up to the present. Google claims not to allow you to use wild cards, when in fact in certain circumstances wild cards work beautifully. Alta vista and, especially, Lycos offered sophisticated proximity operators which they have now withdrawn, but a new, French search engine (see below) is scooping the awards with its advanced offering. In short, search engines move the goal posts frequently – and often without informing you. Come to this full-day workshop in congenial surroundings to up-date your search skills and try out some of the likely successors to Google (and, indeed how to use Google more effectively). You will be given hands-on experience of Gateways that filter out not just “adult” sites, but out-of-date, trivial and non-authentic sites. In addition to providing you with new techniques, new search strategies and new search engines to try, the course will engage you in exploring the underlying principles of effective searching, which will equip you to manage future changes. Hands-on practice is built into the course and you will leave with a large number of hand-outs to act as aide-memoires. There will be ample time to talk to the tutor on a one-to-one basis. Andrew Burchardt (course tutor) has taught at the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education for some ten years. In recent years he has specialized in teaching search strategies, and is renowned for his healthy questioning of Google. His courses are often over-subscribed. The day school is at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA. Further details, booking information, prices, etc can be found by e-mailing [log in to unmask] or by writing to the above address or by telephoning 01865-270368. Apologies for cross-posting.