Using Search Engines to Find Web Resources

Search engines mechanically roam the Internet to compile lists of Web pages. Directories, on the other hand, are compiled by humans who analyze Web sites and assign them to categories. AltaVista, Excite, GoTo, HotBot, Insfoseek, Lycos, Northern Light, and WebCrawler are examples of search engines, while LookSmart, Snap, and Yahoo are examples of directories. Some search engines are hybrids: that is, they have directories built into them. The term search engine is commonly used to denote all three types of service--search engines, directories, and hybrids. Try searching for "Native American" and similar terms using one or more of the following search engines. (Note: Web resources are constantly changing, so you may find that some of these services have merged, changed names, or disappeared altogether.

Popular Search Engines and Directories

About.com
An “all-purpose” directory service that uses individual experts ("guides") to help you find information.

AltaVista
A popular "all-purpose" search engine. You may search in any language.

AOL.COM Search
Although operating under its own brand name, this search engine is powered by "Excite."

Ask Jeeves
Really a human-compiled Web directory rather than a search engine, it lets you search for items by framing natural-language questions.

Direct Hit
A “popularity contest” search engine that ranks each site according to how many people click to each site after doing a search.

Dogpile
A "meta-search engine" that scans the results of multiple search engines and presents you with all the results. Useful for finding comprehensive results.

Excite
A "full Web" engine, it searches every word of every page on the Web. It also includes an extensive set of pre-selected Web sites and Usenet postings. Presents pre-organized results on cities, companies, or sports teams.

Google
A “popularity contest” search engine that ranks each site according to how many pages link to that site.

GoTo
A popular "all-purpose" search engine that attempts to make the search process simple. Top-ranked sites have paid for their positions by bidding on search results.

HotBot
Another "full Web" engine and part of the Lycos Network, it searches every word of every page on the Web. "Super Search" lets you limit your search to documents created within a specified range of dates.

Infoseek
A popular "all-purpose" search engine; advanced features enable you to search for specific titles, URLs, or links.

LookSmart
Really a human-compiled Web directory rather than a search engine, LookSmart indexes, categorizes and reviews selected Web sites.     

Lycos
Once merely a popular "all-purpose" search engine, Lycos is now an Internet "hub" offering a variety of services, including searches.

Metacrawler
A "meta-search engine" that scans the results of multiple search engines and presents you with all the results. Useful for finding comprehensive results.

MSN Search
A popular "all-purpose" search engine.

Netscape Search
Like AOL.com Search, Netscape Search is powered by Excite.

Northern Light
Features a large index and the ability to cluster documents by topic. Also offers its own collection of full-text documents not available through other search engines.

SavvySearch
A "meta-search engine" that scans the results of multiple search engines and presents you with all the results. The search profile can be customized to include as many as 100 specialized search engines.

Simpli.com
Launching in November, 1999, this search engine offers pull-down menus to help you narrow your search.

WebCrawler
A popular search engine operated by Excite, but with a smaller index, useful when Excite produces too many results.

Yahoo
Really a human-compiled Web directory rather than a search engine, Yahoo indexes, categorizes and reviews Web sites. Its organization and selectivity make it among the most popular search engines on the Web.

Helpful tips on how to make a search engine find what you want it to find are given at Search Engine Watch.

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