The Invisible Web: Uncovering Information Sources Search Engines Can't See

The first part describes the strengths and weaknesses of search engines as tools for finding information on the World Wide Web and provides a good overview of the technical and business limitations that lead to the weaknesses. At the same time, the authors also provide a high-level explanation of how search engines operate and a comprehensive explanation of what types of resources are left out of search engine indexes. Although this section is a bit repetitive, it also stands as the best explanation I have encountered on the subject of Web resource accessibility (and inaccessibility) through the popular tools that searchers have at their disposal.

The second part provides a list of Invisible Web resources (resources that can not be indexed by search engines), organized by subject, with annotations. I personally did not find this list comprehensive, but it is a good place to start for those who have previously relied solely on search engines and directories for Web searching.

If you want to understand what resources are just beyond the grasp of search engines, and get a hand on them yourself, "The Invisible Web" is a great book to get you started.

Note: some of the URL's sited in the second part of the book are now gone. This is not a criticism of the book, but a reflection of the ever-changing nature of the Web.


Technical explanations for the truly web-savvy   February 27, 2006
foraminut (Michigan, USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

The author is the unsurpassed guru of InterNet searching, and is explicitly relied upon by other authors engaging in the same work. His website is the mother lode of additional information, which is very helpful. If you have one book on your shelf regarding InterNet resources, this should be it. That said, Mr. Sherman relies heavily upon explanations of the breadth and depth of various resources; these explanations are designed to pique the reader's interest in further self-directed exploration, but may be more than the average searcher might need.


Invisible Web book   January 26, 2008
Dianna Sheets (Sequim, WA USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is an excellent book if you are heavily into the search process. It begins with a basic understanding of the internet, the web and how search engines work. It then proceeds to explain what the 'invisible' or 'deep' web is, how to recognize it and how to deal with the search process of it. It includes a huge section of reference sources on the web.