Search Engine Activity

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 9/24/04.

 

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 Bell” link is a user-friendly resource for help with several academic subjects.  “Yahooligans” also has a feature similar to “Ask Jeeves” named “Ask Earl”.  Users can write a question to “Ask Earl” and read its response, or simply read its reply to other questions on the desired subject.

          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. 

 

Meta Search Engines  

          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.

 

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