Searching the Internet

Specialty Search Engines

Major Search Engines:

Also called "spiders" or "crawlers," search engines constantly visit web sites on the Internet in order to create catalogs of web pages. Because they run automatically and index so many web pages, search engines may often find information not listed in directories.

Alta Vista
  • large number of hits
  • use quotes"" for a phrase
  • relevancy rating
  • good help section
Google
  • advanced searching
  • personalizable
  • can limit by language
  • image searching
HotBot
  • can limit by date and/or geographically
  • "More Options" button allows you to further narrow your search
  • updated frequently
Go
  • reviews and recommends some sites
  • searches much the same as Alta Vista, only simpler
Ask
  • allows you to ask a question in plain English

Directories:

Unlike search engines, directories are created by humans. Sites must be submitted, then they are assigned to an appropriate category or categories. Because of the human role, directories can often provide better results than search engines.

Yahoo
  • the oldest, largest major web site directory
About.com
  • a powerful network of 650 Guides - smart, passionate, accomplished people who are experts in their field
Go
  • runs a directory separate from its search engine

LookSmart
  • Reader's Digest-backed
  • closest rival to Yahoo in terms of a human-compiled directory
Excite
  • features yellow pages, email lookup, people find

Metacrawlers and Metasearchers:

Unlike search engines, metacrawlers don't crawl the web themselves to build listings. Instead, they allow searches to be sent to several search engines all at once. The results are then blended together onto one page. Below are some of the major metacrawlers.

MetaCrawler
  • a good general searching tool, but limits the number of "hits" per search engine
Dogpile
  • customizable list of 25 search engines, directories and specialty search sites without limiting number of "hits"
  • can be overwhelming if you are not looking for something obscure.
Excite Metasearch
  • Search Wizard automatically suggests words you may want to add to your search
  • relevancy rating
  • good help section

Children's Search Engines & Directories

The search engines and directories below are designed primarily to serve the needs of children, either in focus, or by filtering out sites that some parents and teachers might find inappropriate for kids. Most are actually directories to make searching easier.

KidsClick!
  • Over 2,000 sites in various categories
Ask For Kids
  • answers questions in simple English
Yahoo Kids
  • designed for ages 7 to 12
  • sites appropriate for children
  • oldest directory for children
Education World
  • searchable by grade level
IPL Kidspace
  • designed for kids ages 4 to 14
  • sites are arranged by subject.
KidsKonnect
  • quality sites in an array of topic areas

Specialty Search Engines

Google Catalogs
  • Search and browse mail-order catalogs online
Google Groups
  • contains the entire archive of Usenet discussion groups dating back to 1981
Google Image Search
  • The most comprehensive image search on the web
Google Product Search
  • Smart shopping through Google.