Linscheid Library |
 
East Central University |
Internet Search ToolsIntroduction | Search Engines | Image Search Engines IntroductionThere are two types of tools used to find information on the internet: search engines and directories. Many sites include both and these are indicated below with an asterisk (*). Since there is no one search engine or directory that is better than others, it is helpful to know how each tool is constructed in order to select the right one. This page will briefly explain the tools and point you to examples. Detailed comparison charts of individual search engines and directories are available from Search Engine Showdown. Evaluate Your Sources!Anyone can put up a web page. If you decided to use an internet source for your class projects, you need to evaluate the accuracy of the information presented and understand the biases of the author. I will gladly take suggestions for inclusion in this list. Send an email. A few helpful sites: Search Engine Watch explains the technology behind search engines and provide up-to-date tips for better searching. Activist Cash is a right leaning website that follows the money to tell you who is funding organizations and independent media. Source Watch is a left leaning website that follows the money... Accuracy in Media is a right leaning media watchdog. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting is a left leaning media watchdog. Search EnginesA search engines uses a software program known as a spider or robot to make lists (indexes) of keywords at the web sites it searches. Spiders index anywhere from a few thousand to several million websites, depending on the search engine. The number of web sites indexed directly impacts the outcome of your search so you should first choose a search engine that indexes more sites. As of April 7, 2001 the three largest search engines are Google, Fast, and MSN Search. It is important to remember that simply using one search engine isn't enough; you should try two or three different engines. When you submit a keyword or phrase to a search engine, it searches the index created by the spider and returns a list of sites containing your keyword or phrase. Most, but not all, search engines sort the results according to relevance with those sites most closely matching your request appearing at the beginning of the list. Search engines generally allow full Boolean searching so you can use the terms AND and OR to narrow or broaden your search, respectively. Often, you need to select the "advanced search" option to take full advantage of Boolean searching as well as other features such as limiting to a specific language, etc. Some sites have "implied" Boolean meaning you must put the "+" symbol in front of a word to ensure that it is a required term. In this type of searching, you can also use the "-" symbol to indicate a term you want to exclude. The following search engines allow full or implied Boolean searching:
Some search engines send your query to multiple search engines; these are called meta-search engines. Keep in mind that a meta-search engine generally returns only the top 10-50 results from each search engine it queries. Examples of meta-search engines are Exploratorius and Dogpile. Subject DirectoriesSubject directories list Internet resources that have been selected and topically arranged by a human being. An advantage of a subject directory over a search engine is that the sites selected by the humans are usually more relevant than a list of results from a search engine. Subject directories usually include such topics as weather, travel, sports, finance, entertainment, etc. but some have been arranged according to academic subjects. Examples of the latter type include:
Alphabetical List of Internet Search Tools
For more information on search engines, go to Search Engine Watch which includes search engine ratings, tutorials, and a glossary of search engine terminology. |