Internet Search Tools

Search Engines
1. Individual search engine: uses computer programs called “spiders”, “crawlers”, or
“robots” to match key search words with the web pages that contain them
• The results returned are lists of web pages and titles
• Does not search the Internet itself, but instead searches databases of
information about the Internet
• Google.com, Ask.com, Yahoo Live
2. Meta-search engine: search engines for information to several search engines
simultaneously and compiles the results
3. As the results are compiled, duplications are eliminated, thus yielding fewer
results
4. A time-saver compared to regular search engine
5. Examples: Google Custom Search allows users to control their search by
specifying name of the search engine, description, language, sites, etc
6. Subject directories: search databases that are developed and maintained by
human selections of sites to search broad subject categories and their description
• Used to research and often linked to library systems, research databases
• Mostly made up of specialized searchable databases, such as library catalogs
• Searches for non-HTML formats (PDF, Word, excel, Power Point)
• Results in more reliable pages than search engines
• http://informine.ucr.edu : compiled by academic libraries
• www.Lii.org: Libraries’ Internet index
• www.about.com
7. EBSCOhost: premium online information resources for institutions
• Colleges and universities, hospitals and medical institutions, corporations
• Government, K-12 schools, Public libraries
1. Librarysearch.com- a subsidiary of EBSCOhost
2. ERC: Education Resources and Information Center
3. CRS: Current Research and Information Center
4. Incywincy.com
5. Completeplanet.com
6. Google Scholar
Internet Search Methods
8. Keyword: Unique phrases, synonyms, or word variations
9. Field: a search parameter such as title, date of publication. Useful for drilling
down and focusing on specific content
10. Boolean Logic
• Uses operators with keywords to narrow search parameters
• Operations include AND, OR, and **+-NOT
• AND narrows results by searching for pages that contain both keywords
 • OR expands results by searching for pages that contain either of the
keywords
• Quotation marks narrow results by searching for phrases
11. Boolean is implied to many search engines, but still a variable method for
narrowing
12. Miscellaneous search methods
• Different language support- searches fro words in different languages
• Spell checker: gives suggestions if the word keyed for the search is
misspelled
• Phonebook: uses phone numbers to search for locations and addresses
• Math/equivalent: solves basic math problems and converts equivalents