SearchResearch Challenge (8/8/18): How to find difficult to find web pages? (Part 1)

Dan Russell • August 8, 2018

Republished with permission from SearchReSearch

SearchResearch Challenge (8/8/18): How to find difficult to find web pages? (Part 1) Dan Russell

Every so often you know a web page exists, but it's tough to put your finger on it.

This last week I had several search Challenge pop up in my work. Here are a couple of questions I found myself asking, and was ultimately able to resolve. Can you?

This is Part 1 of a series of "Difficult Web Page" search Challenges. These first two aren't so hard--Part 2 will be more challenging. Each of these Difficult Web Page SearchResearch Challenges is intended to highlight one particular method for doing your web searches with precision and skill.

A black racer rising up out of the grass.
Thanks & P/C Continis on Flickr.

1. A while ago I remember reading an article about a famous US author that was having some difficulty editing his own Wikipedia page. As crazy as it sounds, they wanted to have independent verification of what he was saying. I found myself wanting to re-read that article so I could refer to it in my writing. I needed to find it to confirm details. This was my Challenge:

Who was the famous US author that was involved in a dispute with Wikipedia over the accuracy of the entry describing his novel?

2. See that image above? That's a black racer snake. I happened to see one the other day, and I remembered that the state of New Jersey had a few articles about snakes in their state, and I remember one about black racers in particular.

Can you help my fading memory and find an article about the black racer snake that’s published by the state of New Jersey as part of their educational outreach program?

To answer these requires a bit of Search Engine Jedi-level skills. Can you answer both of these Challenges?