Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The logical operators used in searching the newspaper databases continue
to Internet search engines, although expressed in different ways. Some
learning from experience is revealed in the use of phrase searching.
In contrast to combining search terms by AND, phrase searching
tends to recall a limited number of documents that contain thematic or
semantic similarities to the intended subject or signified in the query. For
instance, searching for the phrase
direct semantic ratification2
2
recalls a
restricted number of documents on the topic of direct semantic ratifica-
tion, often concerned with contrasts between orality and literacy and
beginning to address issues concerned with electronic communication
(table 5.1). Similarly, searching for the phrase
Jack Kennedy was a friend
of mine
retrieves a limited set of documents concerned with or deliber-
ately alluding to the vice-presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and
Dan Quayle. The discussions recalled seldom noticed the rhetorical effec-
tiveness of the contrast between the deliberate informality (
Jack Kennedy
,
implying the personal friendship claimed) and the formality of
Senator
(alluding to Quayle's official role) in Bentsen's continuation,
Senator,
you're no Jack Kennedy
(Google 2004). The variable verbal forms given
for other parts of Bentsen's remarks could be ascribed to the inexactness
of unchecked verbal memory.
3
Thus, phrase searching is used as a com-
pensatory mechanism for the mutivalency of separate words. A recent
innovation by Amazon.com, which displays statistically improbable
phrases from the text of documents and uses them to make interdocu-
ment connections—reveals similar practical rather than necessarily theo-
retical understanding (Amazon.com 2005).
Table 5.1
Effects of different search strings
Search statement
Retrieved items
“direct semantic rarification”
c.83
direct AND semantic AND
ratification
c.8700
direct OR semantic OR ratification
c.28000K
Source: Google 2004.
