Bree Smyth

Sep. 22, 2003

SLM 521MC

Search Engine Activity

The Best of Search Engines!

General Search Engines:

***** (out of 5)- Yahoo.com- This search engine has almost anything you could need in a search engine! You can search by category (such as Autos, Classifieds, Real Estate, etc.) or do a general search. You can customize your Yahoo! site and browse by subject. www.yahoo.com

****1/2 (out of 5)- Google.com – The engine is great. You can search the web, search specific groups, or search for images. You can do an advanced search that lets you be even more detailed. A neat feature of this search engine is “I’m Feeling Lucky,” which allows you to pull up the first site that was found for your search. If you want to save some time and know particularly what you are looking for, “I’m Feeling Lucky” is for you. www.google.com

Kid-Safe Search Engines:

***** (out of 5)- Yahooligans.com – This search engine is kid-friendly and is set up like Yahoo! for little people. Yahooligans has many of the same features, which include allowing kids to search by categories or in the Yahooligans! directory. This site has kids in mind, with sections such as “Joke of the Day” and “Ask Earl,” but also has sections for parents and teachers. www.yahooligans.com/

****(out of 5)- Ask Jeeves for Kids.com – This search engine is great for kids who cannot think of key words. By allowing students to enter whole questions, they can get better results. This site, more kid-friendly then it’s parent site (AskJeeves.com) also has a special “Study Tools” section that includes topics such as a dictionary, thesaurus, biographies, and math help. www.ajkids.com

News Search Engines:

*****(out of 5)- MSN.com – This news search engine is great, giving you headlines, stock information, sports, and more on the homepage. You can customize this page, giving you just want you want. This page also allows you to search MSNBC News for updated information. www.msn.com

****1/2 (out of 5)- TIE! Yahoo.com and Google.com. These search engines let you get really detailed news information easily. One downfall of both- you tend to get a lot of “junk” sites and sites that are not in English. If you are willing to spend some time searching, these sites will find you great results. www.yahoo.com and www.google.com

Medical Search Engine:

****(out of 5)- Health A to Z.com- this medical search engine allows you to search many different ways. You do have to register for free, but when you do, you can look at expert Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and even post on a message board. www.healthatoz.com

****(out of 5)- WebMD.com- This health information site is easy to use, but does not let you have many choices while you are searching. It does have message boards and condition centers, which let you browse by topic, but you do have to put up with annoying Pop-Up ads. www.webmd.com

Shopping Search Engine:

*****(out of 5)- BizRate.com- This comparison-shopping site lets you search for a specific item and lets you get the best price online. It lets you compare prices including shipping and tax, and also rates sites based on customer approval. A great site to save you money! www.bizrate.com

****(out of 5)- Froogle Google.com – This new shopping search engine from the Yahoo! and Yahooligans! people lets you find information about products sold online. Froogle lets you see pictures of the item and links you to websites that sell that item. As of now, it is a Beta site, so it is not in its finished stage, but it looks great so far! Froogle.google.com