The Best Search
Engines
By: Tim Snyder
Search Engines
As a future educator, I feel it is
important to be aware of search engines and how they function. These search engines have countless ways to
assist classroom instruction, ranging from new concepts to providing ideas. Below, I have listed five search categories:
image, news, Meta, travel, and shopping.
Under each of the categories I have listed two search engines that I
believe are the most advantageous. Both
are user friendly and provide practical ideas for education.
Image Searches
Google provides a vast array of
images and is arguably the most accessible.
From famous celebrities to animals to products, Google offers countless
images of different sizes and qualities.
Google is especially helpful for teachers because it provides images of
numerous educational materials. For
instance, there are images of famous artwork, which will certainly benefit art
teachers at all levels. Teachers can
print images for classroom examples and, of course, integrate images into
PowerPoint presentations. Ultimately, I
feel that Google is the most widespread search engine for images, and certainly
the most accessible to users.
AltaVista is similar to Google in
that it is extremely accessible and provides high-quality images. It gives the option to search for different
colors, sources, and sizes, all important for finding a specific image. It also has a built-in family filter that
helps prevent children from viewing adult content. It is a close second to Google; however, I feel
it has a slightly smaller selection.
News Searches
Yahoo! is the most comprehensible
and informative news search engine. It
has an organized layout, which displays photographs of the top news headlines,
both locally and internationally. Yahoo!
has a topic toolbar, allowing one to navigate through entertainment, sports,
and life topics. Not to mention, this
search engine’s performance is superior to most others. One can search and find results in just the
click of a mouse!
Much like Yahoo!, MSN provides daily
headlines and worldwide updates. The toolbar
is user friendly, which allows one to explore different topics. Video highlights and slide shows add visuals
to this news search engine. It is
undoubtedly second to Yahoo!.
Meta Searches
This efficient search engine
provides search results for almost anything.
Ranging from web images to videos to news, Clusty offers fast and
countless hits on a particular topic. I
feel that this search engine’s ability to yield results simultaneously is
better than the majority of other Meta search engines.
This search engine is extremely
similar to Dogpile, a close third place; however, I feel that Webcrawler
provides more results. Again, web
images, videos, and news can be accessed, similar to Clusty. WebCrawler also lists “featured searches” and
“other resources” to offer additional search suggestions, which I feel is a
unique idea.
Travel Searches
This search engine provides anything
a traveler, even tourist, needs to know when preparing a visit to a new
location. It has a user friendly
toolbar, which lists “destinations”, “interest guides”, and “when to go”, all
necessary topics to consider when planning a trip. Below these headings are links to popular countries. The links lead to an overview of the country,
as well as, destinations and the most popular attractions within that
destination. Again, I feel this search
engine is accessible to users of all ages, and offers limitless ideas for trips
and travel recommendations.
http://www.independenttraveler.com/
This search engine provides
everything from travel tips to deals to destinations. The toolbar lists everything one will need
from a traveling standpoint. Topics
include features, along with trip reports, to provide one with everything he or
she needs to know prior to the trip. I
feel the information is a little cluttered on the page layout; however, the
information itself is still superior to most other search engines I came across.
Shopping
Searches
This search engine allows a shopper
to find almost anything he or she craves.
It offers an easy to use search tool, and lists several topics to
consider. Some of these topics include
“what’s hot”, “babies & kids”, “electronics”, and “health & beauty
supplies.” What makes this search engine
superior to others I came across is that it provides excellent visuals and
descriptions of products. This gives the
user a detailed report about a particular product, which is especially useful
when trying to determine the best product of its kind.
http://www.consumersearch.com/
This search engine provides a
detailed analysis of virtually any product ranging from sporting goods to
computers to pets. It gives a listing of
comparable items, as well as, a price comparison and recommendation. The recommendation gives the buyer an idea of
the better product in a competitive field.
Perhaps this search engine is the better of the two for research
purposes; however, BizRate is more accessible.