SEARCH ENGINES

There are hundreds of search engines available on the web. Those provided here are generally the major ones as listed on Search Engine Watch and their descriptions are based heavily upon the information given at that site. For more detailed information, including reviews, searching tips and categorical listings of even more search engines, please consult that web site.

True Search Engines - These are based primarily on information obtained from "spiders" that crawl the web and bring back information. Listings are then produced automatically.

• All the Web - Also known as FAST Search, this site aims to index the entire web. It consistently has one of the largest indexes of the web, boasting of over 575 million full text web documents built by crawling over 1.5 billion web documents.
  
  
• Alta Vista - One of the more popular search engines,. Use quotes to search for exact phrases, use the * for truncation, and put a + in front of each word that must be in your results (or a - for words to exclude). The help screens contain easy to read inforamtion on the various search tools for this engine.
  
  
• Excite - A very popular search service with a fairly large index. It offers an easy to read results screen and other convenient features. Use quotes to search for exact phrases, and put a + in front of each word that must be in your results (or a - for words to exclude). There's also a nice subject directory to use as an alternative to typing in a search.
  
  
• Google - A search engine with a large index that makes heavy use of link popularity in ranking websites. It has gained praise for the high degree of relevancy of its results and is very highly rated.
  
  
• Google Groups - Formerly Deja News. This contains the entire archive of Usenet discussion groups dating back to 1981. It enables users to access this information providing relevant results from a database containing more than 700 million posts.
  
  
• HotBot - A favorite of some due to its many power searching features. Easy-to-use pull down menus let you construct your search by choosing things such as "look for the person" or "the exact phrase". There is also a word filter and the ability to limit dates.
  
  
• Go (formerly InfoSeek) - Consistently provides quality results in response to many general and broad searches, thanks to its ESP search algorithm. It also has an impressive human-compiled directory of web sites. ABC, Disney and ESPN are partners of Go.
  
  
• Northern Light - A favorite among researchers. It features a large index of the web, along with the ability to cluster documents by topic. It also has a set of "special collection" documents that are not readily accessible to search engine spiders, but there is a charge to view them.
  
  
• Raging Search - This uses the same core index as AltaVista and virtually the same ranking algorithms. AltaVista offers it for those who want fast search results, with no portal features getting in the way.
  
  
• Teoma - Provides results based upon popularity. It measures what people choose on its own site and on sister sites (such as HotBot) and those that are used the most rise to the top of the rankings.
  
  
• WebCrawler - This has the smallest index of any major search engine on the web. The small index means it is not the place to go when seeking obscure or unusual material. However, some people may feel that WebCrawler provides less overwhelming results in response to general searches.

Internet Guides - These provide results from indexes compiled by people who choose the sites.

• About.com - A network of sites compiled by expert guides - formerly known as the Mining Company. If an expert page is not available for a subject it will provide related sites or suggest searching Ask Jeeves.
  
  
• Guidebeam - Suggests search terms and phrases which are ranked by predicted relevance. They can then be searched on Alta Vista.
  
  
• Internet Public Library Ready Reference Collection - Includes links under 10 different categories. Although fewer sites are included than in some of the other ready reference sites, These are quality resources chosen by experienced librarians which feature excellent annotations and a hierarchical arrangement.
  
  
• Librarians' Index to the Internet - Links point to an extensive collection with lengthy annotations, a hierarchical organization and search capability. This was formerly the Berkeley Public Library Index to the Internet.
  
  
• LookSmart - A human-compiled directory. It also provides directory results to MSN, Excite and others.
  
  
• Lycos - This began as a search engine, depending on listings that came from spidering the web. In April 1999, it shifted to a directory model similar to Yahoo. Its main listings come from the Open Directory project, and then secondary results come from the FAST Search engine. Some Direct Hit results are also used.
  
  
• Open Directory Project - A catalog of the web compiled by volunteer editors. Lycos and AOL Search make heavy use of Open Directory data, while AltaVista and HotBot prominently feature Open Directory categories within their results pages.
  
  
• Overture - Unlike the other major search engines, Overture sells its main listings. Companies can pay money to be placed higher in the search results, which Overture feels improves relevancy.
  
  
• Yahoo - Perhaps the web's most popular search service with a reputation for helping people find information easily. It is the largest human-compiled guide to the web, with over 1 million sites listed and employing about 150 editors. It supplements its results with those from Google. If a search fails to find a match within Yahoo's own listings, then matches from Google are displayed. Google matches also appear after all Yahoo matches have first been shown.

Meta-Search Engines - These conduct searches on several different search engines simultaneously and then consolidate the results.

• Ask Jeeves - A human-powered search service that aims to direct you to the exact page that answers your question. If it fails to find a match within its own database, then it will provide matching web pages from various search engines.
  
  
• CNet Search - Search is conducted on a number of major search engines and directories as well as numerous more specialized guides such as news and advise and answers. Also allows a metasearch within specialized subject areas.
  
  
• Dogpile - Sends a search to a customizable list of search engines, directories and specialty search sites, then displays results from each search engine individually. Owned by the same company as MetaCrawler.
  
  
• Ixquick - Ranks results based on the number of "top 10" rankings a site receives from the various search engines.
  
  
• MetaCrawler - One of the oldest meta search services. Power search allows you to choose the search engines you want to use and the number of results per source.
  
  
• SurfWax - Searches the major search engines, removes duplicate results, marks the most relevant results and home pages, provides context highlighting, focus search words, and detailed page summaries.
  
  
• Vivisimo - Organizes responses from major search engines into convenient categories. Very easy to use.

Multimedia Search Engines - Allows you to find pictures, image, video and sound files.

• AltaVista - Image Search - Lets you find photos, images, audio and video clips from all over the web. Search results feature thumbnails of images found.
  
  
• Ditto - Search or browse to find images on the web. Matches are displayed in thumbnail format.
  
  
• Google Images - Provides thumbnail views of images. Clicking on the image gives a larger view on top of the screen and the context within the site of origin at the bottom. The frame can be removed. Over 250 million images are in this datebase.
  
  
• Lycos Multimedia - Features images organized by category, from the PicturesNow catalog. You can browse categories and view thumbnails of these pictures. Search mode lets you scan the web for pictures or sounds of interest, but no thumbnails are provided.

Children's Search Engines and Subject Guides - These use human beings to filter out sites that might be considered objectionable for viewing by children.

• Ask Jeeves for Kids - Ask Jeeves is a unique service where you enter a question, and it tries to point you to the right web page that provides an answer. Here they are chosen for appropriateness. If Ask Jeeves cannot answer a question, it pulls results from various search engines in its metacrawler mode.
  
  
• Awesome Library - K-12 Education Directory - Over 19, 000 reviewed resources arranged by subject. Includes areas for teens, parents, teachers and librarians.
  
  
• Librarians Guide to Cyberspace - Great Sites! - Sites chosen specifically for children by a committee of the American Library Association. Also includes a section with sites for parents, teachers and other caregivers.
  
  
• Yahooligans! - Yahoo for kids, designed for ages 7 to 12. Sites are hand-picked to be appropriate. Unlike normal Yahoo, searches will not be forwarded to Yahoo's search engine partner if there is no match from within the Yahooligan listings. Adult-oriented banner advertising will not appear within the service. This is the oldest major directory for children, launched in March 1996.