A Comparison of Search
Engines 
By Damon Norko
Introduction
I am one of the lucky people in this world whose name is unique; thus far in my searching of the internet I have not found a single other person named Damon Norko – and certainly not any other Damon George Norko. Thus my name is an ideal way to test search engines!
In my 43 years I have had some minor accomplishments (and some minor excesses) that have merited inclusion in the databases of this world. These include a few published works, being a singer in a rock band from 1983-93, a minor bit of success as a chess player, a couple of minor scrapes with the law, and … who knows what else?
General Search Engines
So let’s find out what the world knows about Damon Norko. We’ll start with two popular sites.
“Google” is the only site I know whose name has been absorbed into the language as both noun and verb. When you want something fast – you “Google it”.
Search Results
367 Entries for “Damon Norko”
203 Entries for “Damon George Norko”
Holy Cow!! I must be
famous you say! Well, not exactly … very
many of these entries are simply name indexes.
For instance, the graduating class of
Analysis
Google is quick and very thorough, but does turn up a lot of extra information. The toolbar is very easy to manage and if I wanted to, I could narrow the search greatly and find specific books or other items that contain my name.
It took some time to peruse each listing and it’s certain there is more information out there. But it is a great place to start!
http://www.yahoo.com
or Yahoo! Directory
“Yahoo!” is another one of those household words. According to an article on searchenginewatch.com, Yahoo is the oldest engine. But recently Yahoo made a switchover to Google-based “crawler” automated entries -- the first link, above. I would probably get the same information as Google unless I used the more “human-based” directory link.
Search Results
185 results for “Damon Norko”
141 results for “Damon George Norko”
There were “0” entries in the Yahoo Directory for me. (I am crushed!) So I did a “web” search with Yahoo and obtained the above results.
Analysis
The key difference between Yahoo and Google was that there was a lot less duplicate information and extraneous material. The toolbar was just as easy to maneuver. I recommend this choice when doing a broad search, as just scrolling through the larger list takes extra time.
Media Search Engines
As a lot of my entries in the general search came up with either printed matter by and/or including me, or with music that involved my band, it is reasonable to assume something could be found by researching media search engines.
This site specializes in audio and visual images and I was able to discover one picture of myself as Edgar Allan Poe. I narrowed the search this time by typing in my band’s name and was rewarded by finding a few people had the mostly obscure cassette tapes in their collection. My name produced almost identical results as Yahoo!
This was a “find” from some of the other engines. Basically because I have written two books (with Library of Congress #s), I am entered onto this site. This is also great for academic papers.
I found my name and was asked to “Claim my Identity,” which I did. The interesting thing about this site is that basic information about the authors (birth date, etc.) is there, along with their bibliography. This is a great way to start to look for more “minor” figures that don’t have a website dedicated to themselves.
Public Records Search Engines
So far the quest has been easy; my writings and more public endeavors are well-covered. But what about the “official” records? As it turns out, searching Public Records is more difficult than expected. This is because “record searching” seems to have become a big industry – for simply locating myself or to obtain a brief background check, I would have to pay $9.95 - $150.00 !!
I checked out a couple dozen sites before coming up with these to recommend. While you still need to pay to get specifics, the sites here will get you started without charging.
This was a very all-encompassing site that allowed for many
links. The home page has a listing for
states, it is best to select the state you wish to search and go from
there. For example, I was able to obtain
the “sex offenders” list for the
Another interesting free aspect here is a summary of licensees of all sorts – such as Air Conditioning. This is handy for checking credentials of your local contractor, etc.
As far as Damon Norko goes, I could have found out what property I own, if I was in jail, or my death certificate – none of which apply. There was also a link for a free credit check.
For free, I was able to see my last 8 or so addresses plus a summary of what other data bases I am in. Actually, every single other search engine I have ever seen was listed! If I wanted to pay fees, this is a fantastic umbrella site to begin with for background checks etc.
News Archive Engines
Fortunately, in spite of all I have done, I didn’t make the news much. If I had, these sites would be ideal!
Besides a wealth of information about genealogical research, there is a link on this site to “Newpapers and Periodicals.” This is a pay site, but they have an offer for a 14-week free trial. That’s enough to do some serious background research. The periodicals section is by far the most interesting – get the headlines of the sinking of the Titanic, for instance! The collection spans from the 1700s until 2001.
As the site states “newspapers contain some information that might not be on official documents.”
This site covers news from 1760 until 2006. It is also world-wide and has its own daily online newspaper with a “historical perspective.” They do charge a fee of $6.95per month but many of the site’s services are free. For example, I was able to find 10 hits for “Damon Norko” on the newspaper archive section. Though burning with curiosity as to what is about me in print, I didn’t pony up the money, though many someday I will
Though mostly a pay site, it does seem to be a great “one-stop-shop.”
Kid-Safe Engines
My 10-year old daughter has been looking over my shoulder during this activity and wants to put her two cents’ worth in. Though “Damon Norko” does not appear in the search listing (I checked!), as soon as I get around to publishing my children’s books, I’ll be showing up.
While Damon Norko information might not appear here, some more famous individuals can be found at Yahoo! for kids – and it’s the friendliest version of a kid engine. There are many categories for the kids to choose from and a nice section “Ask Earl”, which is basically the same as “Ask Jeeves”
My daughter recommends this site for homework research. There an abundance of well-organized K-12 facts and items such as clip-art. The “subject themes” section is nice, with kid-appealing titles such as “dinosaurs” and “astronauts.”
Summary
Simply starting with my name, I was able to access all sorts of information available on the web. I actually perused dozens of sites in the course of this project! If properly motivated and with a few dollars in the pocket, one can use these sites to find out almost anything about anyone. (Except the kid sites, in which you would have to be more or less well-known.)
I recommend this approach for anyone as a fun way to pass an afternoon. I discovered several interesting facts about myself. Some examples:
¨ My works are in the archives of a least three famous dead people, including William Burroughs
¨ I inspired at least one person to become a writer – he wrote about this in an article in one website
¨ Some of my chess games have been included in compilations, among them a classic case of “under-promotion” (taking a knight when promoting a pawn – a rare occurrence in chess.
¨ I emailed an old friend whom I hadn’t talked to for years, since I turned up in a poem description on his website
I hope any of you who take this trip have the same results!
