Web Search–AllTheWeb
New Interface, Features Now Online
Last week Danny Sullivan in Search Engine Watch mentioned that some changes to AlltheWeb.Com were coming. These changes are NOW online and ready for you to try.
–The home page has received a makeover along with the search results page now providing direct links (where applicable) to related content via other AllTheWeb search indexes. This new feature is called the “side bar”. For example, a search on “James Taylor” includes a “side bar” with links to image and video content. Likewise, a search from the AllTheWeb Pictures database will also contain top ranked results from the ATW text database.
–AllTheWeb now allows searches to be limited (ie. words title, host name, domain, etc.) directly from the search box using special syntax.
–Gone from the home page is the pull-down box to limit your search to “all the words”, “any of the words”, or “the exact phrase”. In its location is a menu to limit your search to a specific language. The results page now contains a link to a “offensive content reduction” filter. AllTheWeb now provides “search tips” with “suggestions on how to improve your search”. These new features, along with several others, can be turned on and off via the search customization page.
–The ATW Help page has be overhauled.

Web Search–Teoma
Greg Notess Releases Review of Teoma
Super Searcher Greg Notess has added a review of the new engine Teoma to his essential Search Engine Showdown resource. He has also updated the Search Engine Features Chart with Teoma data.

Info Industry–Factiva
Source: EContent
“Factiva.com: The New Dow Jones/Reuters Synthesis”
From Mick O’Leary’s article, “This summer Factiva�formed from the merger of Dow Jones Interactive and Reuters Business Briefing�will succeed its famous parents.Why replace two of the greatest brands in information? According to Clare Hart, Factiva president and CEO, the question can be answered in one word: integration. Factiva offers a complete suite of products for integrating external information throughout the enterprise. Hart says integration is what today’s game is all about, “There is no doubt in my mind. Anyone who is not playing in the integration space is not going to be playing in the corporate marketplace. Companies want to give decision-making information to their employees when they need it; they don’t want people to have to go to multiple sites.”
See Also: Additional Content from the July EContent

Reference Tools–Dictionaries
Source: AP
Early Review of Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, “Inconsistent Definitions”
From the article, “Definitions of some notable people are inconsistent, misleading or outright inaccurate:
–From George Washington to George W. Bush, presidents in the Microsoft dictionary also receive the label “statesman,” except for two: Nixon (”37th president of the United States”) and Zachary Taylor (”military leader and 12th president of the United States”). Franklin Pierce is not even labeled a president, just a statesman.
–Dick Cheney and Al Gore are both listed as “statesman and vice president of the United States.” But Spiro Agnew, Nixon’s vice president, is simply a “politician.”
–Paraguay’s Alfredo Stroessner is a “dictator.” Spain’s Francisco Franco is an “authoritarian leader.” Saddam Hussein and Augusto Pinochet are “national” leaders. Idi Amin is a “head of state.” And Joseph Stalin is a “statesman.”
–The entries for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy and other presidential wives all note they were first ladies. But Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, is identified only as a “feminist.” “She wouldn’t have even understood that word,” says David McCullough, author of the best-selling biography “John Adams.”
Anne Soukhanov, the dictionary’s general editor, acknowledged a “glitch” in the editorial process. She said the definitions were shortened versions of entries in the Microsoft Encarta World English Dictionary, published in 1999, and that vital information was inadvertently left out. “It would have been much nicer if cross-checks had been made in individual categories like vice president,” she said. While Soukhanov defended the dictionary’s overall integrity, saying the mistakes were not “world-threatening,” a longtime analyst of the reference field was more troubled. “Consistency is an obvious hallmark of a good reference book,” said Ken Kister, author of the consumer guide Kister’s Best Dictionaries.”

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