The Lycos Query Form:
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The Lycos query forms interface is shown below. The form
appears to be somewhat complex on first viewing, but the search options
presented are relatively simple to understand. The Lycos search engine
is well worth learning to use. It is one of the most powerful and
useful general search engines on the WWW.
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Building your search query in Lycos requires only six steps with varying degrees of complexity. |
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Type your search terms into the input box at the top of
the form labeled Query:
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Click on the Search Options: blink  displaying match any term OR to select
the type of match you want Lycos to perform from the first set of
search options shown below:
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Click on the Search Options: blink displaying the text loose match to
select the closeness of fit or confidence level Lycos will
apply on returned sites from the second set of search options
shown below:
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Click on the Display Options: blink displaying the text 10 results per page to
select the number of matches Lycos will return for your search
from the first set of Display Options shown below:
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Click on the Display Options: blink displaying the text standard results to
select the output format in which Lycos will display your search
results from the Display Options: (second set) shown below:
The summary results option provides only a list of links, each link on a single output line, with only a very brief description (KWIC). This output format will be useful for you if you are an experienced Internet user because it provides a lot of information at a glance. The summary results output option may not provide enough information to you and my confuse you if you are an occasional user or a new user. You may find that the detailed results option will be most useful. The detailed results display option produces a list of links accompanied by an abstract-style, reasonably lengthy description of each site found. This will be helpful to you in determining which sites found you want to visit and possibly in enhancing your search.
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When you have finished entering your search terms and selected the search and display options you want, click on the button labeled Search or just press the enter key to begin your search. |
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Note that the default is to find all terms by matching them
with an implicit Boolean (OR). You will probably want to choose
to match all terms with the implicit Boolean (AND) in order to
focus your search more highly. The options ranging from
match 2 terms to match 7 terms allow you to enter up to
seven (7) alternate spellings of a single term or seven closely
related terms you wish to match with one other term.
Note that the default is for Lycos to perform only a loose match
among the terms you have entered. You will probably want to select the
good match option on your first pass to focus the search and limit
the number of false matches. The confidence limits Lycos applies in these options
range from .90 for a strong match to .10 for the loose match.
Note that the default is for Lycos to return only 10
results per page
on the output for your search. You can increase
the number of returned matches up to a maximum of forty (40) results
per output page. Increasing the number of outputs per page makes
screening your search results go a bit faster.
Note that the default is for Lycos to display
"standard results."
The standard output display format provides
a list of links to the sites found. Each is accompanied
by a brief summary extracted from the text of the WWW page, itself,
which gives you some idea of its content. The standard results
option is probably the best initial output choice.