Google Description: Google is a combination directory and search
engine, allowing you to attack your search interest either from a topi-cal
standpoint or from a keyword search. You can search not only
the Web, but also recent news stories, Usenet newsgroups, and a
database of corporate profiles.
Recommended for: - Current events in the news
- A mix of recommended sites and general Web search hits
- One keyword searching (e.g. airlines) using “Extra Search
Precision” function
Features of Note: - Results grouping returns only one hit per site, rather than a
hit for every occurrence of terms
- Lists recommended sites (from its directory) first, then gen-eral
search hits
- News headlines, yellow pages, maps, stock information, dic-tionary,
thesaurus also available by clicking
- Able to search within results of a search in order to refine a
query
- Supports quotation marks for exact phrases, plus and minus
for “must include” and “must exclude”
- Adaptable search technology from any number of handheld devices
- Supports plain English queries (Where can I find a list of
amusement parks? )
- Translate Google's interface into your favorite language.
- Add Google to your Browser
- Supports field searches (title: “Vicar of Wakefield” )
- Advanced search available for customizing search expres-sions
Hit List Features: - Relevancy rating in percentages
- Document date
- Document size
- “See more pages from this site” option
Overall: Google is the premier search tool on the Internet today. Its search speed, grouping, site
ratings and extensive size make Google a very powerful tool
either for a quick check of a subject or as a starting place for
research. Back To TopAltaVista Description: AltaVista has a very large database based on full-text
searches of Web pages. Even though it is one of the most powerful
and comprehensive search engines available, search results are
returned very quickly.
As with other search tools, AltaVista is positioning itself as a hub
or portal, so it is adding “zones” and “services” and even directory
features as well as its search functions. Usenet newsgroups can also
be searched from AltaVista. Recommended for: - Very specific terms (such as chemical names or diseases)
- Obscure pieces of information
- Long or unusual exact phrases
- Complex keyword searches
- Extensive or serious research projects
Features of Note: - Identify keywords as “must include” (with a plus sign),
“must not include” (with a minus sign), and “may include”
(the keyword with no sign): +rafting –whitewater river
- Exact phrase searches by using quotation marks: “Leaning
Tower of Pisa”
- Field identifiers to restrict searches to particular fields: title:
“the froggy page”
- Wild cards with asterisk: Fortun* to find fortune, fortunately,
fortunate, etc.
- Case sensitive search by using capital letters: john returns
john or John, but John returns only John
- Advanced search supports full Boolean: AND, OR, AND
NOT, NEAR, as well as nesting and searching within a
range of dates
- A subject directory is available by clicking on “Browse
Categories.”
Hit List Features: - Date last modified given for each document (so you can
check timeliness)
- Size of each document listed in kilobytes (so you can judge
comparative length)
Overall: AltaVista is a very powerful tool, especially if you control
your searches with the various delimiters available. As long as
you enter several words (most important ones first) and are not
intimidated by large numbers of hits, you will usually be successful
even as a beginner. Back To TopHotBot Description: HotBot is the second of the two largest database
search engines. Pull-down menus (menus that drop down from a
menu bar when the mouse is clicked on the drop-down arrow to the
right of the bar or on the initial word when there is no drop-down
arrow) make customized searching easy. You can select the return of
more than ten results at a time (up to 100). Supports searches of Web
and Usenet newsgroups.
Recommended for: Beginners and experienced searchers who want an exten-sive
database
- Very specific terms
- Obscure pieces of information
- Searches restricted by region or recency (last week, month,
etc.)
Features of Note: - Subsearch allows you to search within the previous set of
results
- Search Options permit extensive customization and field
searches
- Control the depth of search within each Web site
- Some directory content is available
Hit List Features: - Each hit is given a confidence rank-ing
in percent
Overall: AltaVista and HotBot are the two
premier engines for depth searching. HotBot
is a little easier to use because of the pull-down
menus. Both cover somewhat different
content and have different ranking schemes,
so that using them together can be a real benefit. Back To TopExcite Description: The Excite search engine has a medium-sized data-base,
and includes current news articles from more than 300 periodi-cals.
Excite also includes a directory, with recommended sites listed
first.
Recommended for: - Current events and topics involving politics, society, culture
- Working a topic down from more general to more specific
- Accessing a general subject (like astronomy) for a handful of
recommended sites
Features of Note: - Concept searching allows the engine to search beyond your
exact terms for related ideas (a search on rain will bring hits
related to weather)
- Power search allows search customization and up to 50 hits
to be returned per page
- Boolean AND, OR, AND NOT, quotation marks, plus,
minus
- Reference tools (yellow pages, e-mail, stock quotes, etc.)
Hit List Features: - Check boxes with related words are provided to allow nar-rowing
a search
- Percentage relevancy rankings
- “Search for more documents like this one” choice after each
hit to allow refinement of your search
- News article and directory matches as well as general Web
hits
Overall: Excite is a very handy tool if you are not sure whether
you need a directory or a search engine and when you want to play
with a topic for awhile to identify your exact interest. Back To TopLycos Description: Like so many other search tools, Lycos is a combi-nation
search engine and directory. One of its features is its “Top 5
percent” directory of sites the editors have chosen as among the best
on the Web. Searches can focus on the general Web, the “Top 5 per-cent”
sites, newsgroups, Reuters news, weather, a dictionary, pic-tures,
sounds, GTE yellow pages, and recipes.
Recommended for: - Locating sites that have been rated highly by reviewers
- Locating pictures and images
Features of Note: - “Picture This” image search
- “Lycos Pro” feature has easy-to-use advanced search options
- Supports searches on Web page titles
- Can search a selected Web site only
- Supports exact phrase, “must include,” and “must exclude”
with quotation marks, plus, and minus
- Supports rich Boolean with AND, OR, NOT, ADJ, NEAR,
FAR, BEFORE
Hit List Features: - “More Like This” selection
- Option to search within results for narrowing search
Overall: Lycos is excellent for finding highly rated sites and for
finding images. It has a very full set of Boolean operators. Search TipRemember that even
though you may receive
thousands of hits from
one of the major engines,
there are not necessarily
thousands of relevant documents.
For example, a
search on three keywords
will return a hit for any
page that contains any
one of those keywords
anywhere in the document.
The most relevant
documents (with the key-words
closer together)
should be near the front
of the hit list. Back To Top |