An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation

The first chapters of the book provide an extensive introduction to search engines and navigation. No formal prerequisites are required; any Web enthusiast will enjoy reading the book. These chapters comprise of background and history of the Web, navigation and searching, search engine architecture and different types of search engines. In addition to the basics, additional topics covered are navigation (aka surfing), the interplay between search and navigation, Web data mining, personalization, the mobile web, social networks, collaborative filtering and Weblogs (aka Blogs). The book goes far beyond simple searching and navigation; it provides a comprehensive overview of the current research fronts in areas related to Web search engines and navigation. The text is highly readable with a large number of illustrations and examples. It can serve as an excellent textbook both for an introductory and a more advanced course of Web search and navigation. Each chapter starts with a listing of objectives and ends with a set of exercises relevant to the topics covered in the chapter. Students will especially benefit from the non-technical descriptions and clear explanations of the concepts. The book is also a great reference source for researchers and IT professionals: it includes 410 references to articles, and 202 references to Web pages and resources. I highly recommend the book.