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| Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need |
| Information need | Search strategy |
| I need a few good hits fast. | Google - largest index1
results ranked by general popularity with "blind spots."2
with cached copy when site unavailable. Yahoo!Search - new search engine design, improved quality |
| I need to compare results quickly before I investigate them further. | ZapMeta metasearch Quick View previews each page within your results; turn on "Result Snapshots" (set preferences) to preview thumbnails of sites. |
| I have a broad academic subject and need pointers to quality sites. | Librarians' Index to the Internet -
"thinking person's Yahoo"3
with weekly updates. Infomine - librarian-selected directory with flexible search options. |
| I want to search on confusable (e.g. bush v. Bush) or ignored words (e.g. there v. There - a company) in a phrase (e.g., "Vitamin A" or "to be or not to be"). | Alta Vista Advanced
- use capital letter Google - use quotes around phrase, or +word Teaching Google? Use Soople to display and explain features. |
| I can't spell something (e.g. "Ku Klux Klan" or "Klu Klux Klan"). | Use a dictionary for
the correct spelling. If an alternative spelling will generate better results Google asks you, "Did you mean: (more common spelling)?" |
| I need a template to focus my search. | AlltheWeb Advanced or AltaVista Advanced (full Boolean) template prompts you to include or exclude words and phrases, domain, format, date, etc. |
| I need to organize and refine my results. | Combines major engine results (metasearch) clustered by
topics. Select keywords to pinpoint your search further.
|
| I need to see relationships among ideas. | KartOO - intuitive interface
visually "maps" relationships and refines ideas
Web Brain - visual view of related subjects. Click on term to search dmoz database, a directory compiled by volunteer editors |
| I need a subject hub prepared by an expert. | Teoma - excellent relevancy of
results due to ranking by subject-expert popularity (links from authority
pages), suggests expert hub-sites Virtual LRC - searches high-quality educational directories Pinakes - a subject launchpad to major academic gateways. WWW Virtual Library - worldwide volunteers maintain oldest academic subject-organized catalog of links to full-text, databases, and gateways. BUBL LINK / 5:15 - directory of 5-15 academic sites (European focus) also organized by Dewey number and subject terms. About.com - screened and trained volunteers create general-interest subject guides. |
| I need balanced information from verified sources for a school research project to take home. | For certain types of research, useful books and magazines may only be available in print. Ask your local librarian. |
| I need biographical information. | Infoplease Biography -
search 30,000 people (encyclopedia, almanac, dictionary), or browse
categories. Biography.com - search 25,000 popular figures Lives - alphabetical directory of dead people only |
| I need US government information. | First Gov - search official site for U.S. government, state and local, or drill down topics in a directory. |
| I need the current buzz or breaking news. | Clusty - create custom tab for blog search -
ranks by relevance (like Google) and clusters results hierarchically
(Vivisimo technology) NewsNow - UK, fast and wide net, refreshes every 5 min. Daypop - receives daily feeds from 1000 news sources, online magazines, and 19,000 weblogs (subjective, personal) - can use +, -, "" Newsblaster - get a sense of day's major stories and images - automatically collects, categorizes, and summarizes news events, reflecting the media from a particular country. Hotbot (Inktomi) - freshest database4 |
| I need more complete news coverage. | Yahoo News - unique depth and
breadth +continuously updated, categorized news (7-30 days archive) +editor-selected "Full Coverage" provides background +"Op-Ed," "News Photos," "Video" (political) and "Local." Google News - 4500 news sources, automatically grouped, includes articles' leading sentences, 30 day archive. World News Network - world news organized by region, topic, industry. Country or regional hot-spots in "Special Reports." |
| I need to get a overview of the media in a region or industry. | Headline Spot - directory of established media by subject, industry or area (large cities, states, countries, regions). |
| I need fuller news coverage to develop background to understand an issue. | Behind the Headlines - key resources
related to the latest headlines; resources are carefully selected, indexed
and described by specialists in 60+ British educational and research
organizations. US News Briefings - editor-compiled overview, with links to stories, key biographies, relevant documents and Web sites. |
| I need accurate, objective information on hot topics (current and controversial). | Social
Issues - K-12 topics from public library Homework Center. BIOTIN - solid topic information, Catholic perspective Hot Topics Supersites - sites which have resources on many controversial topics of current interest selected by public-university librarian. Public Agenda Online - background and analysis of social issues with public opinion studies |
| I want to get opinions on current issues. | Yahoo Op/Ed
- today,
by country Opinion-Pages - searches international editorials, opinions, commentaries and columnists. PollingReport - aggregates national surveys of the American public Google Usenet Advanced Search - searches newsgroups. Blogdex - "most contagious information currently spreading in the weblog community" Clusty - create custom tab for blog search - ranks by relevance (like Google) and clusters results hierarchically (Vivisimo technology) |
| I need to see news from other countries' perspectives. | All the Web
News advanced - search 7 days coverage, 3000+, multilingual Search Engine Colossus - links to search engines and directories worldwide Abyz News Links - links to international newspapers, news media, internet services, magazines, and press agencies. World Press Review - succinct overviews of issues from international perspectives, views of U.S. from abroad. |
| I need local news. | Topix.net - enter zip code |
| I need simple reference information (basic facts, current statistics, name identification). | Search Reference -
choose fact sites, then metasearch. CIA World Factbook by country or search data. InfoNation - compare data for (up to 5) UN countries. Wikipedia - volunteer-created encyclopedia; can be searched via Clusty customized tab |
| I need statistical data depth. | Statistical Information help page |
| I need invisible web resources (access to databases not commonly indexed by search engines). | Turbo10 -
configurable search of deep net resources.
Invisible Web - small,
high-quality directory list. |
| I need primary sources. | Online
only: Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web UNESCO Primary Sources Online Print and online: Repositories of Primary Sources - by country, region Ready, 'Net, Go - metaindex to worldwide archives |
| I need information found in presentations, spreadsheets and other formats [pdf] [doc] [xls] [ppt] [rtf] [ps]. | Google Advanced -
searches for Adobe Acrobat, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint
presentations, Rich Text Format and Postscript documents. Search Adobe PDF Online - see summary before downloading. |
| I need images and sounds (photos, art, designs, logos, videos, music, noises), media types (Java, mp3) or file extensions [.gif]. | AlltheWeb
images, video, audio Singingfish Advanced Audio Video - large index Lycos MultiMedia - cross-search pictures, audio, mp3, video AltaVista- select format, size, etc - images, audio, video Google Image Search - indexes 425+ mill., advanced narrows by size or type. ClassroomClipart - browse categories suitable for K-12. Fine arts: ADAM, FAMSF, SILS, Richman's list of picture/art sites. American Memory US historical maps, motion pictures, photos and prints, sound recordings. FindSounds - locates sound effects and sample sounds. |
| I heard part of a radio program and want to hear all of it. | PublicRadioFan - if you know the
station or program, click through "tree" links. Design a worldwide
public radio programs list, check what's playing now. HP Speechbot - keyword audio search, results include audio link and transcript of words in context, sort by date |
| I need free or inexpensive software. | CNET - meta search engine for shareware. |
| I need a map. | National
Geo. MapMachine:
world physical, political print. Cornell Digital Earth - world maps: choose layers of geological, geographical, and geophysical data (GIS), then download image (.ps, .jpg) TIGER Map Service - U.S. Census information maps Maptech MapServer - U.S. topographical, aerial and satellite, nautical maps - flexible searching, options for printing/e-mailing MapQuest - U.S. driving directions. |
| I need a quotation. | The Quotations Page Quoteland Quotations Archive, Search Creative Quotations, Bartlett (1901). |
| I want to get advice from experts. | Ask A+ Locator - browse, or search
by keyword or subject, a database of high-quality "AskA" services. AllExperts - volunteer experts (read self-profile to assess expertise) SourceNet Experts - database of experts for journalists Sources and Experts - directory maintained by news researcher |
| I need a virtual librarian. | 24/7 - live
reference from public library system. Ask a Librarian - e-mail and live help from Library of Congress. Ask on NoodleBoard if you subscribe to NoodleBib. |
| I want notice of new sites as they're announced. | Scout Report review or weekly e-mail notification of new sites, often not yet listed elsewhere. |
| I need to periodically rerun a good search I've already composed. | GoogleAlert- reruns your search
periodically on its large index and sends alerts via e-mail. HotSheet, AmphetaDesk, FeedDemon (beta) - desktop and RSS Headliner web page software to create custom pages with your own choice of news sources. |
| I need sites just for kids. | KidsClick! - click
through librarian selected and organized subject tree, or search 600+
high-quality sites. See Dewey
classification of sites. Yahooligans! - results from directory, clustered by category, and kid-safe popular sites. Ithaki - metasearch engine (Dmoz Kids, Yahooligans, FactMonster, ArtKidsRule, AolKids, AppuKids, Discovery School) |
© Debbie Abilock 1996-2004
Latest Revision: 9/30/041 Notess, Greg R. "Search Engine Statistics: Relative Size Showdown." Search Engine Showdown 31 December 2002. <http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/stats/size.shtml>
2 According to Steve Johnson in "Digging for Googleholes." Slate 16 July 2003. <http://slate.msn.com/id/2085668/>, blind spots are a function of user demographics which affect link popularity consensus:
"Apple" when you want "apple" (computer users)
References to articles retrieved more often than books (online favored over print)
Shopping sites rank higher than impartial reviews (buying habits)
3 Cohen, Laura B. "The Web as a Research Tool: Teaching Strategies for Instructors." Choice Aug. 1999: 29.
4 Notess, Greg R. "Search Engine Statistics: Freshness Showdown." Search Engine Showdown 17 May 2003. <http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/stats/freshness.shtml>
| For search engine
features and performance see Search Engine Watch <http://www.searchenginewatch.com/> To understand how search engines search and rank results, see "Search Engine Optimization" at SearchEngines.com <http://www.searchengines.com/> |