I have been using the Dynamic search method launched on the new service:
http://www.search4science.com
It is like having your own tutor helping you build better search-strings for
retreiving relevant information from the WEB.
This is Dynamic Search.
The Internet is a tremendous source of freely accessible information. But
with the rapidly increasing number of web pages, it is also becoming much
more difficult to find what you are looking for. The ordinary way of finding
specific information is to submit a query to a search engine. There is just
one problem: How do you make a query that returns all the interesting pages,
but leaves out the garbage - often you don't even know the right name for
the things you're after?
This is where Dynamic Search can help. First, it will assist you by
suggesting synonyms that can be used to expand your search. For instance, if
you type the phrase "brain tumor" it will suggest that you also include the
British spelling "brain tumour", the Latin "tumour cerebri", and the medical
"cerebral tumor". Second, it will suggest words that can be useful for
limiting your search. Maybe you are interested in therapy so you mark the
word "therapy" with a plus, but you don't want surgery so you mark the word
"surgery" with a minus. Then you press <submit>, and Dynamic Search will
return the relevant web pages. You do not have to worry about complex
boolean operators.
Dynamic Search also invites you to add your own words to the query. Let's
say your interest in brain tumors relates to a chemotherapy called BCNU. You
therefore type "BCNU" and mark it with a plus. Dynamic Search will then
incorporate this in the query and return the relevant pages. But the process
doesn't stop there. Dynamic Search performs detailed analyses of every
submitted query, and continuously updates its database of related words and
phrases. So when you contribute the term "BCNU" this will be incorporated in
the database and presented to other people searching for "brain tumor".
Every time you use your own knowledge to optimize a search query, you
therefore help others to find the information they're looking for.
The updating of the database involves a patent pending technology, which
combines information from dictionaries, expert advisory boards, and user
input in an interactive process. Through the Internet it unites people from
all over the world in their search for knowledge, and that is way we call
Dynamic Search a community of "Brains without Borders".
They also have a very nice screensaver you can download on their About Us
page.