Search Engines

Web Search Engines

• AltaVista
• Ask
• Excite
• Go
• Google
• HotBot
• Lycos
• Northern Light
• Yahoo!

Meta-search engines

• Dogpile
• MetaCrawler

Specialized searching

• Google Groups
  newsgroups
• WhoWhere
  finding people

Related sites

• Search Engine Colossus
  international directory of search engines
• Traffick
  a guide and review of portals and search engines.

Subject Indexes to the Web

Please note that subject indexes may also be found on some UCB Libraries department webpages.

• ALA Internet Resources
• BUBL Link: Catalogue of Internet Resources
• Internet Public Library
• Librarians' Internet Index: Websites You Can Trust
• W3: Text Encoding Initiative
• WebCrawler
• Yahoo!

Understanding Search Engines

Information about searching the Web, including evaluations and comparisons of search engines, how they work, and more ...

• Alta Vista vs. Lycos
  A detailed comparison of two popular Web search engines.
• BotSpot
  The spot for all Bots (worms, spiders, wanders, etc.) and Internet Agents on the Net including 13 searchable bot classification databases, FAQs, Articles, Conferences, Newsletters, New Bots, and more.
• Information Literacy: Search Strategies: Choose the Best Search Engine for Your Information Needs
  Includes a chart with the various search engine characteristics.
• Evaluating Information Found on the Internet
  Discusses the criteria by which scholars in most fields evaluate print information, and shows how the same criteria can be used to assess internet information.
• Evaluating Quality on the Internet
  Excellent paper by Hope N. Tillman, Director of Libraries, Babson College.
• Evaluating Web Sites: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web
  Materials to assist in the teaching of how to evaluate Web resources. Focuses on teaching how to develop critical thinking skills which can be applied to evaluating Web pages. Useful evaluation checklists for Advocacy, Business/Marketing, Informational, News, and Personal Web Pages. By Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate.
• General Internet Resource Finding Tools: A Review and List of Those Used to Build INFOMINE
  Article written by a librarian at UC-Riverside.
• Glossary of Internet Terms
  by Matisse Enzer.
• Internet Scout Project
  A selection of new and newly discovered online resources of interest to researchers, educators, and anyone else with an interest in high-quality online material. Archives are a searchable and browseable collection of over seven years' worth of critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites, mailing lists, and other online resources.
• Internet Search Tool Details
  Basic information on major search engines and indexes.
• Evaluating Resorces You Find on the Web
  A list and evaluation of search spiders, search engines which gather and index web pages by walking the web, visiting web servers, and indexing their content. Alta Vista , Google , Hotbot , Lycos , Snap , Webcrawler , Excite , FastSearch.
• Literature About Search Services
  A bibliography of articles comparing search services and tools, as well as methods for indexing the Internet. Regularly updated.
• Meta Search Engines
  This article, by Jian Liu, Indiana University Library, briefly compares WWWW, Webcrawler, Lycos, InfoSeek, Open Text, excite, Inktomi and AltaVista. Also reviews some Meta-Search engines.
• Search Engine Showdown
  User's guide to web searching. Compares and evaluates Internet search engines from the searcher's perspective. Developed originally as a way to keep track of search engine features and search capabilities and to share that information with others, the site has grown to include search engine features chart , detailed search engine reviews, an online newsletter, statistical analysis, search strategies.
• Search Engine Tutorial for Web Designers
  Explains how to design your pages, keeping the search engines in mind, and why it is necessary to do so. Includes an indepth look at four major search engines, along with HTML design tips for creating "Search Engine Friendly" web pages.
• Search Engine Watch
  Provides tips and information about searching the web, analysis of the search engine industry and help to site owners trying to improve their ability to be found in search engines.
• Search Engines: What they Are, How They Work, and Practical Suggestions for Getting the Most Out of Them
  First, some background is given, then there is a section on how search engines work (including hints on how to get your site found). Finally, some search examples are given to illustrate which engine performs the best, and how you can get the most out of search engines.
• Understanding and Comparing Search Engines
  Links to comparisons of search engines.
• Web Search Service Features
  Chart that compares search engines.

The idea for and much of the content of this column was developed by Carol Leita at Berkeley's SunSITE. The University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries would like to acknowledge her work and thank her for use of the material.