About Search Engines and Search Engines for Students
Do you need help learning about search engines and how to search for information on the Internet? There are a significant number of resources on the net that can provide the user with background information about search engines and directories. Some of these resources are listed below:
NoodleTools is a suite of interactive tools designed to aid students and professionals with their online research. From selecting a search engine and finding some relevant sources, to citing those sources in MLA or APA style, NoodleTools makes online research easier!
The UC Library Berkeley provides a tutorial on finding information on the Internet. The tutorial is comprehensive and includes information on evaluating websites, important things to know when searching the web, the best searching strategy, and detailed tables on search engines and directories.
SEARCH ENGINES FOR STUDENTS
The following are some of the most popular search engines, meta-search engines and directories. They are listed because they are either very well known or are very well used. These search engines are not filtered although some of the search engines provide a filtering option or an alternative search engine. Students and teachers using this list should fully understand the ethics of information use when participating in a Research Quest.
All the Web or FastSearch consistently has one of the largest search indexes on the web. Advertising is not as intrusive as on some search engines. This makes this site more attractive for school use, although there is a move toward additional advertising. The site provides a clean and simple interface.
AltaVista is one of the largest and most comprehensive search engines on the web. Like all search engines, its features have changed and evolved over time. The site includes a wide range of features including a directory. There is search capability in multiple languages including French. Users can also search images, video and audio.
Dogpile has become one of the more popular meta search sites. It searches a customizable list of search engines, directories and specialty search sites, then displays results from each search engine individually.
One of most extensive search engines, Google has a huge index of the web with links to over a billion web sites. Link popularity is one of the primary ways it ranks web sites, so your search often has a high level of relevancy. This is the link to the Canadian Google.
The Mother of All Search Engines, Mamma is a meta search engine. It sends your search to a list of 10 major search engines. Mamma provides a highly relevant and comprehensive set of search results.
MetaCrawler is one of the oldest meta search engines. This means that it has no local database; it operates entirely by querying other search engines. A list of the search engines that MetaCrawler searches is available along with other options.
The Open Directory Project is the largest and most comprehensive human-edited directory on the Web. It is constructed and maintained by a global army of volunteer editors. The Open Directory is considered the most widely distributed database of Web content classified by humans. It provides directory services to HotBot, Lycos, Northern Light, Yahoo and others. Open Directory is a very good place to start searches.
Search.com is a meta search engine and is operated by CNET. It is based on the technology from the former SavvySearch, which was one of the original meta search services. Search.com offers web-wide search and a variety of specialty services.
There is no question that Yahoo is the most popular search service or directory. Yahoo provides a hierarchical directory and can quickly lead the researcher to a category and then an appropriate web site. Yahoo Search Canada is the Canadian version of Yahoo and has less advertising then the general Yahoo search engine and directory.
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