INTERNET SEARCH TOOLS
There
are two main ways to search for information on the Internet.
These are know as Web Directories and Web Search Engines,
including Meta-Search Engines. If you are in the habit
of only searching the Internet one way, we recommend that
you
review
the following information to broaden your
understanding of other search options.
Web
Directories,
such as Yahoo, generally depend on human editors for
their listings. Directories are compiled based on descriptions
of Web sites and are listed under one or more subject
categories. Some directories only list sites that have
been selected as the "best" sites in various
subject areas. Directories are a good place to start
when looking for information on general subjects and
to get an overview of what is available on the Internet.
Directories find fewer but often more relevant sites
than search engines.
Search
Engines, such as Google,
create their listings automatically by "crawling" the
Web and returning results. They are useful
in searching for very specific information,
but they are not the best tools for finding
sites on broader topics (see "Subject
Directories"). Search engines are different
in size, search features, and the criteria
of documents indexed. Keep in mind that there
is no single search engine that covers the
entire Web. In order to retrieve the most relevant
information, learn to use 2 or 3 search engines
well by reading the "Search Guides" for each
engine.
Meta-Search
Engines search many search engines
and Web directories simultaneously. The results are
categorized by each search engine. Since each search engine
includes
a different set of sites, meta-search engines are recommended
in order to perform the most extensive search possible.
The
links below were selected based on their recognition as quality
resources. Remember that Search Engines and Directories are
in a continuous state of transformation. For more in depth
information and to stay current with changes, visit: searchenginewatch.com or
searchengineshowdown.com.
Selected
Web Directories
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Infomine
infomine.ucr.edu
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Infomine
originates from U.C. Riverside and is maintained by librarians
for the introduction of Internet resources relevant to
faculty, students, and researchers at the university
level. It provides links to over 100,000 Web sites that
have been reviewed and annotated. It offers a unique
expanded search feature that allows you to browse by
Library of Congress Subjects and Classification System
as well as author, title, and Table of Contexts. |
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"Information
You Can Trust" is the motto of ipl2, a collaboration
between the Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians'
Index to the Internet (LII). This is a searchable, annotated
subject directory of high quality Internet resources
selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness
in providing accurate, factual information on a topic.
Other features include resources by subject, links to
newspapers and magazines, special collections, suggested
sites for kids and teens, and online reference service. |
Yahoo
www.yahoo.com
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Launched
in 1994, Yahoo is the Web's oldest Web directory. In
2002 it replaced human editors with crawler-based listings
for its main results. You can use tabs above the search
box on the home page to find images, Yellow Page listings
or Yahoo's shopping search engine. You can still search
classic Yahoo by selecting Yahoo Directory. This will
take you to a list of Web sites that have been reviewed
and approved by a human editor.
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Selected
Web Search Engines
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Google
www.google.com
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For
many people Google is the first choice in search engines.
Besides searching for Web pages it offers a number
of special features. From the home page, click on “more>>” to
access a list of Google services and tools. For precision
searching, click on “Advance Search” to
customize your search strategy by word or phrase, date,
Internet domain, and language.
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AlltheWeb
www.alltheweb.com
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Currently
powered by Yahoo, AllTheWeb is lighter and more customizable
than Yahoo itself. It offers a clean search interface
that supports 36 languages. Other features include
advance search strategies for news stories, pictures,
videos, and MP3 files.
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Ask.com
www.ask.com |
Formally known as "Ask Jeeves," Ask.com is a "natural language" search engine that lets you enter searches in the form of a question. The results are produced from sites selected as being the most authoritative and popular to best match the topic of your search.
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Selected
Meta-Search Engines
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Clusty
clusty.com
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Clusty
is a meta-search engine developed by Vivisimo in 2004.
It queries multiple search engines-Ask, Open Directory,
Gigablast and others-and combines similar results
into topic “clusters” for easy navigation.
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Dogpile
www.dogpile.com
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Dogpile
utilizes meta-search technology and returns results
from the leading search engines including Google,
Yahoo, Bing, and Ask. Since each search engine has
its own method of searching, Dogpile compares the
results, eliminates duplicates, and returns the most
relevant sites.
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Ixquick
www.ixquick.com
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Ixquick
is a meta-search engine that uses stars to rank results
from popular search engines. For example, a result
with 5 stars means five search engines ranked the
site as one of the best based on the query. Ixquick
also offers a global feature that searches local and
international search engines from a selected 18 languages.
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Victor Valley College Library
Last Modified: February 10, 2010
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