Shawn Lees-Carr
June 1, 2009
EDUC 521
Search engine analysis
The Best
of the Best . . . Or The Best of What I Found
The Best of
the Workhorse Basic Search Engines
My personal favorite just because of
its simplicity. Limited menu bar
with a less complex search form and settings page. Can
quickly change page language. Can’t search within
results, however.
Page contains extensive menu bar with options to reach
YouTube, images, maps, etc. Includes an advance search form
and convenient search markers. Can search within
results. Parental controls and translation options
also available. Search window makes predictions about possible terms
while searcher is typing.
- Best Government Information Web Tools
http://www.google.com/unclesam
Key word/phrase: mandatory school
attendance
Can search
within results, alternative key words suggested. Provides advance search and preference pages. “Brand” recognition of Google. Able to do
some translation into other languages. Easy to read
“around,” without too much clutter.
Key word/phrase: mandatory school
attendance
Produced many results and included
a sidebar with additional links to other topics connected to the key phrase.
It’s also the “official” government portal. Able to increase
size of text on page. Web page is available in other languages. Easy to read “around,” without too much clutter.
Key word/phrase: mandatory school
attendance
Unable to locate articles related
to key word phrase
BUT: contains a plethora of interesting
facts, statistics, news, and other “current” pieces of information. Easy to use drop down menus for state government, news and even
venture out into other others beyond government. More of a “fun” trivia
type of source. Easy to read “around,” without too much
clutter.
- Best National News (magazine/newspaper) Information Web
Tools
Key word/phrase: school attendance
Although only about 12 results,
each result is clearly labeled by type and date. Also menu bar at top allows
for direct connection to video, images and other media. The results were
limited for this phrase, but the format was easy to follow and allowed the
reader to quickly determine whether or not it would be useful. Offers relevant
topics and search options. Includes multi-media extras like
videos. Can sort by date and relevance. Offers
advanced search options. Easy to read “around,” without too
much clutter.
Key word/phrase: school attendance
Many search results. Offers
relevant topics and search options. Includes multi-media
extras like videos. Can sort by date and relevance.
Offers advanced search options. Easy to read “around,”
without too much clutter. *** Some archival materials must be purchased
Key word/phrase: school attendance
Many search results. Can sort by date and relevance. Offers advanced search
options. Easy to read “around,” without too much clutter
Key word/phrase: school attendance
Many search results. Can sort by
date and relevance, but the date is not always included in list. Offers
advanced search options. Not as graphically pleasing.
- Best Kid-Safe Links for
Information
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/
Sites are previewed and selected
based on usefulness for students, parents, librarians, teachers, etc. Resources
are timely and mostly include primary sources, actual items and discussion
groups
http://www.kidsclick.org/
Includes topic outline to help guide
search. Can search sounds
and pictures also. Advanced search allows pulling material based on
reading level and amount of graphics. Highly controlled content which includes very limited
advertisement. Will not include cites that promote
violence or hatred. Sites must contain educational and entertainment value.
(Limited age-range, though: seems to stop at around 7th grade)
- The Best of Sites that Compile Great Tools on One Page
An
internet index that is developed by librarians and contains many topic lists. Within each topic, are subtopics, which then
include links to more specific ideas. Allows searchers to access
other main web search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
http://www.ipl.org/div/searchresults/?words=%20reference&searchtype=traditional
The Internet
Public Library. There is
a Kidspace and Teenspace.
The topic-oriented index allows the searcher to locate possible databases and
sites that could provide more information about the topic. Directly search for
keywords may not be the most productive technique with these types of web
sites.
http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/enga3.html
An
all-in-one page that is like an index. Contains links to directories, search engines, topic pages, etc. Much
like a resource list of all possible places you could go to find out more about
many different topics. Cannot conduct searches from this page.