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Web Site Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I search the entire UWA Website?

Keyword Search

MySource uses the Google search engine to perform the keyword search on the main UWA web site.

Google indexes the site approximately once every 6 weeks so it is possible that a new page will not appear in the search results for this lenth of time.

The following is a link to the Google Search Tips site which you can use to help you refine your searches.

http://www.google.com.au/help/


Interpreting Search Results


Search Result

Above is a typical result for a search for the keyword "MySource". The link at the top will take you to the result page, the green text at the bottom is the address of the result page.

There are also two links to the right of the page's address, Cached and Similar Pages, these links are described below:


Cached

Google takes a snapshot of each page examined as it crawls the web and caches these as a back-up in case the original page is unavailable. If you click on the "Cached" link, you will see the web page as it looked when we indexed it. The cached content is the content Google uses to judge whether this page is a relevant match for your query.

When the cached page is displayed, it will have a header at the top which serves as a reminder that this is not necessarily the most recent version of the page. Terms that match your query are highlighted on the cached version to make it easier for you to see why your page is relevant.

The "Cached" link will be missing for sites that have not been indexed, as well as for sites whose owners have requested we not cache their content.

Tip: A cached result is a good place to go to if you have accidentally deeted a page, you can copy the content from the cached result and use it to create a new page. You need to be aware that the content might be up to 6 weeks old and might not represent the latest version of the page you deleted.


Similar

When you click on the "Similar Pages" link for a search result, Google automatically scouts the web for pages that are related to this result.

The Similar Pages feature can be used for many purposes. If you like a particular site's content, but wish it had more to say, Similar Pages can find sites with similar content with which you may be unfamiliar. If you are looking for product information, Similar Pages can find competitive information so you can make direct comparisons. If you are interested in researching a particular field, Similar Pages can help you find a large number of resources very quickly, without having to worry about selecting the right keywords.

The more specialized a page is, the fewer results Google will be able to find for you. For example, Similar Pages may not be able to find related pages for your personal home page if it does not have enough information to authoritatively associate other pages with yours. Also, if companies use multiple URLs for their pages (such as company.com and www.company.com), Similar Pages may have little information on one URL, but lots on the other. In general, however, Similar Pages works well for the majority of web pages.

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