search engine

Tool for finding information, especially on the Internet or World Wide Web. Search engines are essentially massive databases that cover wide swaths of the Internet. Most consist of three parts: at least one program, called a spider, crawler, or bot, which “crawls” through the Internet gathering information; a database, which stores the gathered information; and a search tool, with which users search through the database by typing in keywords describing the information desired (usually at a Web site dedicated to the search engine). Increasingly, metasearch engines, which search a subset (usually 10 or so) of the huge number of search engines and then compile and index the results, are being used.

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In law enforcement, an exploratory investigation of a premises or a person and the taking into custody of property or an individual in the interest of gaining evidence of unlawful activity or guilt. The latitude allowed police in carrying out searches and seizures varies greatly from country to country. In the U.S., the 4th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires that a warrant be issued following a finding of probable cause. The warrant must specify the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

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Search/Retrieve Web service (SRW) is a web service for search and retrieval. SRW provides a SOAP interface to queries, to augment the URL interface provided by its companion protocol Search/Retrieve via URL (SRU). Queries in SRU and SRW are expressed using the Common Query Language (CQL).

Standards for SRW, SRU, and CQL are promulgated by the United States Library of Congress.

External links

• SRU Home Page
• SRW (now known as SRU VIA HTTP SOAP)
• CQL Home Page

Implementations

• refbase
• RefDB
• Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand has implemented Search/Retrieve Web

See also

• Z39.50