[Info-vax] [OT] Google, was: Re: VMS documentation

[Simon Clubley]

On 2015-08-12, alanfeldman48 at gmail.com <alanfeldman48 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday, July 24, 2015 at 3:24:51 PM UTC-4, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> HP have just sent me the following message in response to my complaint
>> a couple of months or so ago about the VMS documentation:
>> 
> [...]
>> I've therefore done some checking and the new website is cumbersome
>> (to put it mildly); it's easier to find things with Google. For example,
>
> Isn't that typically the case? Or is it just limited to the few websites I've tried it on?
>

Depends on the website.

For example, Farnell's own search engine is (usually) really good and
provides an overall structure which is totally missing from a Google
search.

OTOH, in a depressing number of cases, I find that even if the same
information is available both via Google and the website itself then
Google tends to give a more readable set of results.

However, you have to be careful that Google isn't pointing you to
an older version of a document instead of the most recent version.
An example for me would be the flash programming specifications
for the PIC32MX range. There are various versions of this document
floating around Microchip's website and Google has pointed me to
older versions of this document in the past.

OTOH, when you are looking for some isolated piece of information (such
as a standalone datasheet) and don't really care where you get it from,
then Google's search comes into it's own.

> Another advantage of using Google is that if someone sends you a
> link to an article that has a paywall in front of it, searching for
> the title of article with Google -- and perhaps adding site:<url of
> website> -- will often get you in.

I find the Google cache to be very useful in a variety of situations.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world