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Search Engines There are over two thousand search engines in existence (so far!), each with different strengths and idiosyncrasies. The first step in doing online research is determining which search engine to use.
Start HereFortunately, there are websites that actually help you pick the right search engine. One such site is NoodleQuest at http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest, which lets you fill out a short form and then points you in the right direction. Y
General Search EnginesMost people begin Internet research with one of the following general search engines. They function by running an automated “spider” or software program that uses keywords to search the Internet. However, using a topic-specific search engine (see below) or a searchable site for a subject expert (e.g., http://www.audubon.org for information on birds) can be much more efficient.
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| Bubl Link / 5:15 | This search engine aims for 5 relevant hits out of a
maximum of 15 per inquiry, with larger topics broken down into categories. All
resulting sites have been carefully selected and evaluated. http://www.bubl.ac.uk/link/ |
| dmoz – Open Directory Project | A global network of volunteers maintains this "topic tree” of sites, owned by AOL. http://dmoz.org/ |
| Excite | http://www.excite.com |
| Galaxy | http://www.galaxy.com |
| IPL2 | This is a searchable, annotated subject directory to Internet
resources that have been evaluated by librarians for their own and the
public’s use. It is "the result of a merger of the Internet Public Library (IPL)
and the Librarians' Internet Index (LII)." http://www.ipl.org/ |
| StartSpot | An editorial team evaluates and selects relevant sites that
are organized by topic. http://www.startspot.com/network/ |
| Yahoo | This popular directory is based on unreviewed user
submissions with a definite commercial bias. http://www.yahoo.com |
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Some search engines have been designed to locate a specific type of information. These subject-specific search engines can save time and produce high-quality results.
A list of some of these “invisible” web resources, listed by topic, may be found at http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/advicedepth.html.
Additional lists of specialized search engines may be found at
Below is a sample of some dedicated search engines.
| EDUCATION: SearchEdu.com | This search engine
includes 20 million education sites. http://www.searchedu.com/ |
| GOVERNMENT SOURCES: USA.gov |
This is the new portal to all 20,000 U. S. government
websites. http://www.usa.gov/ |
| LAW: Thomas | This is a great way
to find legislative information. http://thomas.loc.gov/ |
| MEDICINE: MedHunt | The Health on the
Net Foundation maintains this site which allows access to reliable
online medical information. http://www.hon.ch/MedHunt/ |
| MULTIMEDIA: Find Sounds | You can find common
sound files in various formats at this site. http://www.findsounds.com/types.html |
| NEWS: 1st Headlines |
This is a great source for current news from around the
world. It may be searched by keyword, topic, or country. http://1stheadlines.com/ |
| PEOPLE: Biography.com | Over 25,000 lives – past and present - from A&E
Television Network. http://www.biography.com |
| RESEARCH: InfoMine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections | INFOMINE features well-organized access to university level
research and educational tools on the Internet. Substantive databases,
electronic journals, and K-12 instructional resources are among the many types
of resources included. Separate virtual collections or INFOMINEs exist in most
major areas of university level research and educational interests. http://infomine.ucr.edu |
| REVIEWS: Movie Review Query Engine (MRQE) | This is a
searchable database of newspaper and magazine reviews. http://www.mrqe.com/ |
| SCIENCE: Scirus | Created by Elsevier Science, a well-known science
publisher, this search engine restricts its search to websites with science
content only. http://www.scirus.com/ |
| STATISTICS: Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web | The U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics offers this extensive list of statistical links. http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm |
These search multiple search engines with each search term, so that you can select the one that returns the most useful hits.
| Dogpile | http://www.dogpile.com |
| Ixquick | This meta search engine uses stars to indicate when a
search engine has placed a site in its Top Ten, which helps the user to rank the
hits or choose the individual search engine which produces the highest quality
results. http://www.ixquick.com |
| Metacrawler | http://www.metacrawler.com |
| WebCrawler | http://webcrawler.com |
This newer form of search engine has become popular. Visual search engines offer a graphic representation of search results, which may be more comfortable than conventional text for those of us who are visual learners.
| Quintura | "While viewing the
Quintura Cloud, you can visually navigate and easily refine in order to
find relevant information faster and more efficiently!" http://www.quintura.com/ |
| Search-Cube |
This is is a visual
search engine that presents web search results in a unique,
three-dimensional cube interface. It shows previews of up to
ninety-six websites, videos and images. |
| TouchGraph Google Browser |
"The TouchGraph Google Browser reveals
the network of connectivity between websites, as reported by
Google's database of related sites."
http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html |
The Invisible Web is comprised of all of the data that cannot be accessed using regular search engines. It consists mainly of searchable databases, many of which are by subscription only (such as those listed on the Online Databases page of the Library's website.
For more information about the Invisible Web, see the article:
"Invisible or Deep Web: What It Is, How to Find It, and its Inherent Ambiguity."
Univ. of California, Berkeley. 8 Jan. 2010. Web.
<http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.html>.
3 Jan. 2011.
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