There is no satisfactory method of finding
things like this. Your method will seem
comic to future generations, but for today,
there are few substitutes. The only
alternative I can suggest is contacting the
webmaster of a site that you think a likely
repository for the information you seek.
Karen Mahnk is correct that it is usually
impractical for third-party search engines
to index a database stored in a cgi
directory. Typically, the data is stored in
a form unreadable to a web crawler-style
search engine. This problem is somewhat
mitigated by the fact that many cgi
directories can be search through a local
search routine. If it is a database, as we
are predicating here, then it must be
searchable locally. The trick, of course, is
in first identifying the site as a likely
location for the information you seek.
However, it does not appear that your
particular problem relates to cgi. More
likely, the search engines you used cannot
index pdf files. I don't know whether any of
the general-purpose web search engines index
pdf files, but I'm sure that most of them do
not. Anyone?
Christopher Carr (speaking for myself)
Library Services Manager
Howard, Smith & Levin LLP
1330 Avenue of the Americas
New York NY 10019
212 841 1085
>>> Wendy Ng <wng1@compuserve.com> 07/31/98
05:32pm >>>
Although I finally stumbled onto what I
needed after a while(and I really
mean "stumbled"), I would appreciate some
search advice. My question is,
how do you structure a search/search for
something that seems to have no
links to it?
I was looking for a form from the Federal
After I printed the form(which made the
Any tips? Explanations? Or did I just use
Still scratching my head,
Wendy Ng, Librarian
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29
: Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:49:56 PST
Trade Commission, form C4
Notification and Report Form for Certain
Mergers and Acquisitions.
Naturally I searched the FTC website but
didn't find it. Then tried some
sites with links to forms and even search
engines, still no luck. Finally
looped back to an FTC page. I stared at the
URL,
http://www.ftc.gov/bc/docs/
wondering maybe if I delete
that <blah blah>.htm it would lead to a page
with documents. Sure enough,
it's an "index of /bc/docs", looked just
like a typical ftp directory and
the file formc4.pdf was sitting right there.
attorney happy), I tried the FTC
search engine again with the terms c4,
formc4.pdf, pdf and still couldn't
retrieve the form nor could I find a link to
this index of /bc/docs. I am
sure there are other sites like this where
the information is there but you
can't seem to find it unless you know the
exact URL.
the incorrect search terms?
Spengler Nathanson PLL
608 Madison Ave Ste 1000
Toledo OH 43604-1169
phone: 419-252-6245
fax: 419-241-8599
email: wng1@compuserve.com