• Google
• AltaVista
• HotBot
• Excite
• Lycos
• Extra Search Tip

Google

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.

AltaVista

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.

HotBot

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.

Excite

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.

Lycos

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.

Remember 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.