Jennifer Sayre
SLM 521
Best
Search Engines
After careful research
and
consideration, the following are what I have chosen to be the best
search
engines out on the Internet as of
News
Search Engines
Google
News – The ‘In The News’ section of this site is a useful tool in
that it
displays one or two key words which link
to reports on the corresponding topic. Another feature of this site is
the
option to “Search News” or “Search the Web”. By choosing “Groups” one
can read
on-line ‘threads’ written by other Google
users on
every topic from “Ben Franklin” to “Frankfurt”.
Yahoo News
Yahoo News allows the user to narrow down
their search to; “All News”, “Yahoo! News Only”,”News
Photos”, or “Audio/Video”. Visual
learners will enjoy clicking “Images” to retrieve photos related to
their
search. One can also personalize the news home page.
Search
Engines for
Kids
Yahooligans The home page of this site looks very
appealing to students; it uses bright colors and “cartoonish”
icons. In addition, the “School
Kids Click That
this site was created and is maintained
by librarians (Ramapo Catskill Library
System) is immediately
evident from its well-organized home page.
Judging by links offered, “Kids
Click” is
definitely educationally oriented.
Students have easy access, through the home page, to web-sites
pertaining
to; poetry, foreign languages, encyclopedias, and music.
Media
Search Engines
Alta
Vista Comprehensive site that allows
you to search
among over 570 million image files and 13 million video and audio files. You can refine searches by specifying a
color, source, and duration of files.
This site is also very simple for all ages to use.
All
The Web – This search engine runs in connection with Yahoo. The best aspect about this search engine is
its setting options. You can activate an
“Offensive Content Filter” which prevents you from receiving indecent
search
results. You can even change the
appearance of the search engine site in the same way that you would
“change
skins” on a media player. Like Alta
Vista, All the Web pulls a vast amount of
relevant
results for any media search.
Dogpile – When you use this meta search engine, you really do get a huge “pile”
of results
from other search engine. A great aspect
of this search engine is the ability to search by relevance or by names
of
search engines. You can find all types
of images and multimedia from this site.
The advance search section allows you to narrow results, and
there is
also a “Tips for Searching” section for additional help.
Overall, this search engine is “user friendly”
for all ages.
Metacrawler
– This search engine appears to be similar to Dogpile,
with a different appearance. With Metacrawler, you get results from a wide variety
of engines. The most unique aspect of this
search engine
is its advanced search. In addition to
exact phrases and Boolean terms, you can also narrow your search based
on time
frame, domain name (.gov, .com, .org, etc.)
while filtering
out adult material. Metacrawler
is definitely a great place to go for the best search engine results
for media,
shopping, news and more!
Education
Search
Engines
Edu
Hound – This site sets students,
teachers, or parents with a list of
categories to choose from. You
narrow your topic by selecting listed subtopics and then get to a
listing of
relevant websites. The sites are sorted
by popularity. The most interesting
feature of this site is the “Hot List”:
the site helps you create a website for you to post your
favorite links. This search engine also
features a weekly
spotlight section on educational websites.
For all educational needs, this is a great place to begin your
search!!!
Awesome Library
– This site holds true to its name…AWESOME!
First, there is a special door for kids, teachers, teens,
parents, librarians
and college students. Then, you choose
from a wide variety of categories and subcategories.
The search results are sorted and easy to
follow. For example, the “teacher door” sorts results by
general list, materials, research papers, multimedia, projects, and
more!! All sites used in this engine are
reviewed by
educators. Covers a
LARGE amount of topics important to ALL stakeholders in education.