Expert Internet Searching 5th Edition

I'm pleased to say that this book is now with the publishers, Facet Publishing and should be available in about 3 months. This is (as the title of the blog post says) the 5th edition of the title which started life in 1999 as The Advanced Internet Searcher's Handbook. That very first edition didn't even mention Google, which seems almost impossible to imagine. This edition references over 300 different search engines and associated tools. As usual I've started from scratch with it, and while keeping to the same format have added and removed content in almost equal measure. The book is in 13 chapters:

1. An introduction to the internet. While it's not necessary to really introduce the internet to anyone these days I still go into details about how the development and organisation of the internet affects internet search. I'm also able to look back over 17 years of the internet and look at how it's changed over that period of time.
2. An introduction to search engines. I look at how search engines work, how they collect data and arrange it, as well as looking in detail at about a dozen different types of engines.
3. The world according to Google. The good, bad and indifferent of the search engine. I go into detail about how to use it to its best advantage, and also provide lots of reasons why it's a really bad idea to trust it at all.
4. Other free text search engines. Alternatives to Google, and reasons why I think one of the best of them is quite probably one you've never heard of.
5. Directory, clustering and similarity search engines. There's lots of different types of search engines out there, and this chapter explores a few of them
6. Multi- and meta search engines. When one search engine simply isn't enough, you need as much information as possible!
7. Social media search engines. This is a developed and developing area, so I look in detail at some of the key engines you need to search the social media environment
8. Visual and image search engines. The internet is increasingly becoming a visual arena, and we need to consider other ways of finding content. This chapter looks at doing that from a visual standpoint.
9. People based resources. People finders, email search engines, finding people on social media and more!
10. News based search engines. As news becomes 24/7 and more importantly is about a second old, how can we find all the new material that we need to keep up to date? How do we deal with the pernicious problem of fake news?
11. Multimedia search engines. Video specific, educational, audio and podcast engines are the focus of this chapter
12. Specialised search engines. I look at academic engines, why there are no good ones for children, and other specialised engines
13. Hints, tips and the future. How to get the most out of the search engines, quick shortcuts and getting the most out of your browser.

I'm really pleased with this new edition, and I think it's the best one yet. It's aimed at anyone who wants to improve their search abilities and to become quicker and more effective when it comes to getting good material quickly and easily. I've written it with the intention that it's the kind of book that should sit on your desk or nearby shelf so that you can refer to it when you need to. Read it through, dip in and out if you prefer; I've tried to make it both informative but fun to read. I hope you enjoy it!