Web Search Tools
		Catalog	Site Index	Library Home	Help

Search Tool List	Types of Web Search Tools
Choosing a Search Tool	Directories | Virtual Libraries | Search Engines
Evaluating Web-based Information	Citing Resources

Tool Name	Type	Advantages
alltheweb	Search Engine	Boolean logic; language selection
AltaVista	Search Engine and Directory	Links to like pages; choice of languages; bolds the search term in the results; Boolean logic
AOL search	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic
Argus Clearinghouse	Virtual Library	Collection of guides
Ask.com (formerly: Ask Jeeves.com)	Search Engine	Boolean logic; ask question in natural language; queries several search engines
Direct Hit	Search Engine and Directory	Journal publishing information
Excite	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic
Google	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic; language selection; advanced searching, including time of site updates
Google Scholar	Search Engine	Scholarly materials Please note: many articles indexed here are NOT freely available on the web but may be in the Library's print or full text collections. Check the Full Text Journal List and the Library catalog.
INFOMINE	Virtual Library	Scholarly sites
Internet Public Library	Virtual Library	Oriented to general interest areas
Librarians' Internet Index	Virtual Library	Oriented to academic topic areas
Looksmart	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic
Lycos	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic; language selection; advanced searching
MSN	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic
NBCI	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic
Query Server	Search Engine	Searches 10 search engines at a time; gives results according to subjects; ranks results
Teoma	Search Engine	Results organized into subject "communities" and relevance-ranked expert links; based on AskJeeves
Vivisimo	Search Engine	Boolean logic; language selection; advanced searching; searches several search engines and databases
WiseNut	Search Engine	Boolean logic, generates similar categories
World Wide Web Virtual Library	Virtual Library	Comprehensive lists in very specific subject areas
Yahoo	Search Engine and Directory	Boolean logic; advanced searching; bolds the search term in the results

Since no search tool indexes the entire Internet, it's important to be familiar with several of them and to understand how they work. Here are some sites that review and compare several different ones:

Search Engine Showdown http://www.searchengineshowdown.com
Search Engine Watch http://www.searchenginewatch.com

Directories

• Topical lists of selected WWW resources, hierarchically arranged
• Use these tools for researching broad topics
• Many directories rate and review web resources
  

  Several search directories are listed in the table above.

Virtual Libraries

• These are directories that contain very selective resources
• Contain subject guides or meta-pages, which are great places to begin research on a topic
• Also contain reference works like dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, etc.

  Several virtual libraries are listed in the table above.

Search Engines

• Most search engines claim to index the entire web
• Require knowledge of advanced search techniques to guarantee good results
• Each search engine has different search features
• Look here for obscure subjects, persons' names, multi-faceted topics

Several search engines are listed in the table above.

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