Katie Wilberding

5/17/06

SLM 521

Best of Search Engines

Can’t find what you’re looking for on the World Wide Web?

Here are five categories of search engines with some top choices!

General Search Engines

Google is able to perform searches on more than web pages just by clicking on tabs above the search box, as well as performs advanced searches that can filter information by time relevance. Also, Google allows for safe searches so that inappropriate material can be filtered. I think the coolest feature if the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, where the search engine automatically displays the first web site and allows you to read sites quicker.

All the Web: www.alltheweb.com

All the Web is provided by Yahoo!, so it contains some of the great features of Yahoo! like customizing your search; however, this search engine seems simpler to use. It has a feature that allows you to open up additional windows so that multiple sources can be displayed at once. In addition, All the Web is less visually overwhelming which can keep you focused on your search, rather than reading all of the advertisements and stories on the search page.

Meta Search Engines

Dogpile: www.dogpile.com

Dogpile uses some of the most popular search engines, such as Google and Askjeeves. It has a neat feature that allows the user to compare the results by highlighting the results that were only found by that particular search engine. Like Google, you can search under specific domains in order to narrow your search.

Kartoo: www.kartoo.com

Kartoo is a very quick engine that displays the results in an interactive map. The user can visually see which links are the most relevant due to the number of pages in the image. In addition, when the cursor highlights a site, a map is formed in order to show the user the sites that are related. There are also key words on the map for you to narrow your search. This site was really cool, especially if you learn better from visuals.

Image Search Engines

Picsearch: www.picsearch.com

Picsearch would be a great sight for teachers or students because it not only finds images; it also links the images to the original web site. Therefore, information can be retrieved as well. It also highlights popular searches.

Google Images: http://images.google.com

Google Images provides very specific images regarding search topics. This sight is very similar to Picsearch, in that it links you to the original website as well as indicates the website underneath each thumbnail image. In addition, you can see a fuller size image.

News Search Engines

Yahoo! News: http://news.yahoo.com

Before even beginning a search, this search engine displays top news stories categorized under domains like world, U.S., politics, local, and business. This search engine also has links at CNN.com, which gives the user a larger database. There are also images matched to articles. Each story indicates a time reference so the user knows when it was last updated.

Google News: http://news.google.com

This search engine updates its stories every fifteen minutes, so the user gets the most recent information. Like Yahoo! News, Google News contains categories, to narrow the search. In addition, Google News finds information that covers all viewpoints.

Kid Safe Search Engines

Ask for Kids: www.ajkids.com

Ask for Kids is related to Askjeeves.com, so children can type in a question as if they were asking their parents or teachers, and receive information. There are also cool features on the search page, like a link for news resources, a link for study help searches and a link for free games.

Yahooligans!: www.yahooligans.com

This search engine contains a list of topics that children can click on including news, where brief summaries and slideshows can be viewed. There is also a link for teachers to view lesson ideas on how to integrate the website into the classroom.