The Hot Iron

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Searching Wikipedia over Google

Many times we instinctively do something that, if we take a step back and observe ourselves, we didn’t realize we do.  I found when I go to search the Web for some topics, the first place I go is Wikipedia and not Google.  I have Wikipedia in the search engines in Firefox, so it is as easy for me to search Wikipedia as it is for me to search Google using the Google search bar.  The picture below shows my Firefox setup.

So what am I searching on Wikipedia?  Proper nouns – names, cities, companies and even some words I need the definition for are what I am entering in the search box to the right.  If I am looking for a technical solution, then I am most always searching Google.

A few things come to mind as a result of this search.  I am not viewing any ads on Wikipedia that in some cases may give me a link more relevant to what I may be seeking.  I am also relying on the editors of Wikipedia to provide me information.  But am I taking anything I see on either search as gospel?  Of course not!

What are you using to search, and for what?

Posted by Mike Maddaloni on 03/28 at 06:53 AM
Technology • (4) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink •

Considering how often putting a technical term or proper noun in Google pulls up the Wikipedia entry anyway, you might as well cut out the middle-man I know what you mean, though; I find myself going directly to certain sources more often now, like Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, UrbanDictionary.com, etc.

Comment by Dr. Pete
on 03/28/07 at 05:57 PM
 

I’m kind of partial to m-w.com, from Merriam-Webster in my old neck of the woods… and they are also an option in my Firefox search box.

mp/m

Comment by Mike Maddaloni
on 03/29/07 at 07:42 AM
 

I’ve been using meta crawler [http://www.metacrawler.com/] for a while and it has worked fairly well. I have this habit of using domain tools [http://www.domaintools.com/] to get info on websites and the people who own/host them.

Comment by G. Pearson
on 04/23/07 at 11:12 PM
 

Domain Tools does show up quite a bit on the search results for many of my sites!

mp/m

Comment by Mike Maddaloni
on 04/24/07 at 05:38 AM
 

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