| Introduction | Search Engines | Portals |
| Directories | Meta-Search Engines | Learn More about Searching |
See also: Citing Web Pages | Evaluating Sources
*On this page, "web pages" means the "free web", web sites anyone can access, not the web-based research tools like the databases that the library subscribes to for Princeton students and faculty.
The web is a very interesting medium for research:
1. Anyone can publish "information."
2. There is no complete list of web sites.
3. There are no official organizers, catalogers, or evaluators.
4. Sites constantly change; new sites are constantly created; and sites often disappear.
5. Finally, there are no standards for web search tools.When you use the web for research, don't assume:
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"You can find it faster." |
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"The information is more current." |
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"The information is just as reliable." |
Searching is not evaluating. Given the nature of web information, it's vital to evaluate the web pages you dig up. See Evaluating Sources for things to consider when evaluating a web page.
Academic Info | Argus Clearinghouse | Britannica | INFOMINE | InfoSurf | Internet Public Library | Librarian's Index to the Internet | Open Directory | Yahoo!
Best used for: browsing subjects; finding quality web sites.
Search Tips:
Yahoo puts the least emphasis on including quality web sites, so don't forget to evaluate the sites you find there.
Directories organize web sites by categories (i.e. subjects). People who work on directories decide in which category a web site should be listed. Since directories are built and maintained by people, directories include far fewer web sites than search engines. However, directories are the best place to begin browsing a subject, and most directories focus on including quality web sites.
AltaVista | Direct Hit | Excite | Fast Search | Google | HotBot | Lycos | Oingo | Simpli.com | Teoma
Best used for: finding specific sites or specific information.
Search Tips:
Search engines use software (called spiders, webcrawlers, or bots) to automatically collect the words on millions of web pages. These words are fed into a searchable database. So when you search a search engine, you are not searching the Web -- you are searching a database of words from web pages collected by that search engine's spider in the recent (or not-so-recent) past. Relevancy software determines in what order hits are listed. In terms of "cataloging the web", search engines are extremely incomplete. Also, there is little overlap between the search engines' databases. Therefore, use more than one search engine on a regular basis. Many search engines also provide a search directory.
Search engines allow you to search for keywords, not for context. For example, a search for "sole" will turn up pages about fish, shoes, and "sole" as a synonym of the adjective single. It's up to you to provide the search with context. Think of related keywords that would narrow the search results. A search for "recipe for sole" will not turn up web sites about Nikes and Timberlands.
DogPile | Ixquick | Metacrawler | ProFusion | SavvySearch
Best used for: searching for obscure keywords; getting an overview of what's available.
Search tips:
Metasearch engines don't use databases of words from web sites. Instead, metasearch engines send your keywords to a few search engines and give you the combined search results. Metasearch engines can't handle complex searches, so keep your search expression short and simple.
Excite | Go.com | Lycos | NBCi | Yahoo!
Best used for: finding the most popular types of information (weather, stock quotes, sport scores, etc.).
Portals attempt to provide such a wide variety of information and services that one would rarely need to browse elsewhere on the web. Portals are designed for the general public. Most include a basic search engine as well as a search directory.
Search Engine Showdown
An excellent source for statistical comparisons of search tools. Comparisons of the search options each tool offers are also available.Search Engine Watch
Provides news, commentary, and comparisons of search engines. This site includes reviews of search engines and links to web searching tutorials.Web Searching from About.com
The articles in the "In the Spotlight" column are useful.
Wayne
Bivens-Tatum
Gen. & Humanities Reference Librarian
