- Spell-checking. Our searcher checks your search
terms against a dictionary of math terms and names ranging from
the commonplace ('algebra', 'theorem') to the obscure
('Brahmagupta', 'frustum'). While our searcher can't catch every
misspelling and typo, it does a pretty good job of detecting most
errors.
- Key-word analysis. Our searcher analyzes your
keywords and will sometimes modify them or suggest modifications to
make your search more effective. For example, common words such as
'a', 'the', and 'of' are removed from your keywords, since these
words appear in nearly every page on the site. If you query
'chaos and fractals', or '+chaos +fractals', our searcher
will remind you that, to search for pages containing both the
words 'chaos' and 'fractals', it suffices to enter simply 'chaos
fractals' in the keyword field, and make sure the 'all, in any order'
option is selected.
- Starting points. To help point more
quickly to the pages we think you're looking for, our searcher
sometimes recommends starting points instead of performing a full
search of the entire Math Forum. For example, searching for 'i' now
points to a relevant starting point, a Dr. Math FAQ on
imaginary numbers, instead of displaying the hundreds of returns that
would result from a full site search. Starting points are also intended to
help you navigate our site. For example, searching for 'geopow'
gives a starting point to the Math Forum's 'Geometry Problem of
the Week' and searching for 'dr. math' gives a starting point for the
Math Forum's 'Ask Dr. Math' question and answer service. You still have
the option of performing a full site search if you want more than the
starting points returned.
- Search again: The results page now has a form at
the bottom that lets you compose another search without having to go
back a page. If you want to go back to the original search page you
can still use the browser's Back button or click on the Search link
in the bottom menu bar on every Forum page.
- Use other Internet Searchers: From either the main
search page or the results page you can also send your keywords to major web search engines, such as Google, AltaVista, MetaCrawler, and Yahoo.
- Credits and Appreciation: We'd like to thank the folks
working on the Glimpse search engine and also those who developed Htgrep. We've
learned from both and we're currently using Glimpse in combination with our
own search technology.
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Math Forum:
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