Why thankyou Joanna for the very explicit info. Some good tips.
I found what I was looking for in a wink!
I almost always search on the Google "Images" first just to see
what other peoples images look like, then if need be go to the web side.
You are so lucky to live close to Al. *g*
Thanks again, appreciate your help.
--
Cheers Wendy
Remove PETERPAN for email reply
"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
: Wendy posted the following message in thread "Who We Are (revisited)":
: "Wendy" wrote in message
: news:tiQRb.5627$fD.4150@fed1read02...
: Hi Joanna, I am truly impressed with your searching abilities.
: I tried to do one on Google but I get nothing?
: Kye started this in ABPO & just about everyone in the group replied.
: Do you use the 'advanced search' feature?
: What do you type in other than the News Group.
: --
: Cheers Wendy (who is not a puter guru)
: Remove PETERPAN for email reply
:
: Wendy,
:
: Ok, you asked for it -- sorry for the length of this reply but I really
got
: into it :-)
:
: Thank you for the compliment. I enjoy Web searching. Some of it is more of
: an art than a science, though. For example I think I stumbled upon the
: thread "Who We Are" mostly by chance -- it is an especially hard thread to
: search for since the title contains only common words that are actually
: ignored by google :-) and it wouldn't have occurred to me to search for
this
: thread before I found it.
:
: However, here are some Tips & Tricks for searching the archives of rgo at
: groups.google.com:
:
: -- start by typing in "group:rec.gardens.orchids" into the search filed in
:
http://groups.gardens.orchids and then make sure to choose the radio
button
: next to "Search only in rec.gardens.orchids" (under the search field) for
: subsequent searches.
:
: -- Generally the more relevant terms you know the easier it is to search
for
: things. Consider getting a book on orchids with a good glossary and index
of
: orchid terms. One online glossary is available at
:
http://www.orchidlady.com/gloss_wordlist.html. For example: spike,
: inflorescence, "aerial roots", meristem, peloric, "seed pod", etc.
:
: -- For searching it helps to know abbreviations as well as full names of
: orchids. There are many abbreviations lists on the Web, for example:
:
http://www.theorchidjournal.com/abbrev.pdf or
:
http://www.orchids.mu/Glossary/Glossary_A.htm. Also see
:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/gmcorbin/bos/nomencl.html -- and consider
using
: common names such as "Moth orchid" or "ghost orchid" in a search (see
:
http://www.mainelyprints.com/index_g...rchidIndex.htm)
:
: -- Synonyms, common misspellings, acronyms, verb/adjective/noun forms
: related to desired term may help find what you are looking for. Also it
: helps to look for any related terms that one can think of, so for example
: one could search only on rec.gardens.com for: Sweden, Swedish, Oslo,
: Stockholm, Dutch, Netherlands, Finland, Finnish, Scandinavian,
Scandinavia,
: Amsterdam, etc. and then "Sort by Date" (this link is available in
: groups.google.com search responses toward the upper right hand corner of
the
: screen) -- to find some of the most recent Scandinavian posts on rgo.
:
: -- Read as many orchid information sites and newsgroup posts as possible,
: paying attention to what kind of terms are used for what, for example, a
big
: breakthrough for me was to find out what a "culture sheet" is, and that
: most/all culture sheets use a combination of the terms light, water,
: humidity, temperature, fertilizer (fertilize, fertilization, fertilizing,
: or plant food). Also I have observed that a lot of
beginners/newbies/novices
: asking for advice/help, use words such as beginner and advice in their
: question posts, and many of those posts have answers that are worthwhile
to
: review. So sometimes it helps to think of terms that could be used in the
: question and not just the answer.
:
: -- Very often when I find a post that is especially informative or funny,
I
: then search for other posts by the same author. One can use
: groups.google.com Advanced Search feature for this, or just type for
example
: "author:barrett group:rec.gardens.orchids" in the simple search box, or
: click on the link of the author's name in the post that you already found.
:
: -- When I find a good post, I usually View Entire Thread, since there may
be
: other good posts there.
:
: -- Now that I know that rgo was started in early June 1994 I am planning
to
: use Advanced Search with message dates in 1994 to see some of the early
: posts.
:
: -- In general I think that searching archives has certain advantages over
: just reading current posts. Most of the questions/answers have been given
: before, one has a larger pool of experts over the entire history of rgo
than
: just now, the questions already often have been answered so no need to
wait
: for replies, very few issues discussed in rgo are time sensitive (except
for
: announcements of orchid fairs for example). For lurkers I would propose
that
: reading from the current date back is almost equally random as reading
from
: the date 1/1/2002 to 12/31/2002. Try searching with different dates, and
: then lurking in the past.
:
: -- Sometimes I just feel like browsing this group's archives
semi-randomly,
: and then I might put in a semi-nonsensical search term in addition to
: specifying the group (for example: verizon -- which is one of the Internet
: Service Providers some posters might have used, and their email address
will
: be among the things searched). I often find worthwhile things in the
: archives when doing such non-sensical searches. I am then just open-minded
: about what I might find, and sometimes I am interested in what it is,
: otherwise I move on quickly. Another idea search for "ROFL" or "LOL" and
: then read the posts that the results are replying to -- this search
: presupposes that one knows that these are acronyms denoting laughter in
: online conversation.
:
: -- Thinking outside the box is essential to good searching skills. One
: anecdote from my own experience of thinking inside a very tight box: I had
: for the longest time used Google's Image search only occasionally to find
: free icons that I might put into Web sites that I design. It had not
: occurred to me to use it to search for orchid species or orchid hybrids to
: see their pictures until Al told me about this use of Google during my
first
: visit to Al's Greenhouse. Until then I had only this one use for this
search
: feature, and this limited my searching experience.
:
: -- Read Google Groups Help:
http://groups.google.com/googlegroups/help.html
: and
http://groups.google.com/help/index.html. Most users don't read help
: files, which is a mistake in my opinion, since one can learn so much from
: them.
:
: -- Finally, don't get discouraged when searching, don't take "No Results"
: for a final answer. A lot of good searching is based on perseverance and
: experience with searching. And luck has some role as well.
:
: If anyone has anything to add to this list of searching tips, please do
so.
: I do not claim to be the authority on searching, but I do enjoy searching
: the newsgroup archives and the Web and I have found quite a lot using
these
: and similar techniques.
:
: Hope this helps,
: Joanna
:
: