Search Engines and Reference Gatewayspencil
Searching tip:  Use subject specific or small age appropriate search engines when you are searching for common terms.  When you have an obscure topic, use a large search engine like Altavista or FAST Search.  Whenever you get too many hits, refine your search by adding more terms to the search box, making your search more specific.  Always put a + before terms that must be included in the results, and enclose phrases in quotation marks.  Be aware that subject-specific search engines are found under that subject.

All the Web   (http:/www.alltheweb.com/)
        One of the internet's largest and fastest search engines that should be your choice when all else fails.

Altavista  ( http://www.altavista.com/ )
        One of the largest and most powerful search engines, that uses Boolean operators and is case sensitive.  Family filter can be activated, if desired.

Answers.com  (http://www.answers.com)
        A new search engine that actually gives you the information, instead of numerous hits.  Great!

Ask An Expert (http://www.askanexpert.com/)
        Pitsco's Ask An Expert invites students to pose intelligent questions to experts in various fields.  A wonderful opportunity for first-hand research!

Ask Jeeves for Kids (http://www.ajkids.com/ )
        Students can submit their questions in plain English to locate exact information.

Delaware Libraries (http://www.state.lib.de.us/Collection_Development/Electronic_Resources/DelAWARE/)
        You must have a valid Delaware library card to use the search tools and databases, but it's well worth it.

Direct Search    (http://www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm)
        A search engine that searches the "invisible web", that is, information not searched by everyday search engines.

Ditto    (http://www.ditto.com)
        A great seach engine for photographs and images on the web.

Dogpile    (http://www.dogpile.com/)
        Search for just what you need -- information, audio, video, images, etc.

Google.com  (http://www.google.com)
        The largest search engine, with a great image library. 

Hotbot  (http://hotbot.lycos.com/)
        A search engine that gives you the option of using Ask Jeeves or Google.

Internet Public Library Ready Reference Section ( http://www.ipl.org/ref/RR/ )
        A great directory, where the sites have been collected and annotated. Sources are selected according to ease of use, quality and quantity of information, frequency of updating, and authoritativeness.

Kidsclick!  (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/)
        A kid friendly search engine developed by librarians.  Though the database is limited, it seems more than adequate for the grade school student.  Colorful and easily navigable by subject.

Kids Konnect (http://www.kidskonnect.com)
      A safe internet gateway for kids, which is one of the best subject directories around. (Remember, you use a directory when you're not exactly sure about the specific subject you're going to research). Researched by teachers and librarians, this site is a great portal to the internet.

Librarian's Index to the Internet (http://www.lii.org/)
        A small search directory with only the highest quality sites, compiled by public librarians.  One of our favorites.

Looksmart  (http://www.looksmart.com/)
        LookSmart is a human-compiled directory of web sites.

Looksmart High School (www.teenja.com)
        A search engine for middle and high schoolers with homework help and directory-style subject headings.

Lycos (http://www.lycos.com/index.html)
        A subject directory with a search tool, which is a great source of multimedia.

Mamma  (http://www.mamma.com/)
        The top metasearch engine, that searches 10 other search engines simulatneously.

Metacrawler    (http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html)
        A metasearch engine that also offers a directory.

My Virtual Reference Desk    ( http://www.refdesk.com/facts.html)
      An internet reference desk with links to encyclopedias, many subject areas, internet resources, and libraries around the world.  An excellent reference source!

Profusion (http://www.profusion.com/)
        Another metasearch engine; this one allow you to specify which search engines you want to search, and the number of results.

Simpli.com  (http://www.simpli.com)
        A new generation search engine that uses linguistics to narrow your meaning. Enter your search term and click on "simplifind it" to choose your category.  Then search.

Teoma  (http://www.teoma.com)
        One of the newer search engines, in the mold of Google.

Webcrawler  (http://www.webcrawler.com/info.wbcrwl/)
        An ad-free metasearch engine that searches Google, MSN Search, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves.

Wolfram/Alpha  (http://www.wolframalpha.com/)
       A computational search engine, concentrating mainly on math and science topics.

Yauba  (http://www.yauba.com/)
       A privacy safe search engine that organizes results by file type.

Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/)
        The biggest and most famous search directory around, which uses +,-, ", and *.

Yahooligans!    (http://www.yahooligans.com/)
        One of the original web indices for children that is bright and colorful, divided by subject area, or searchable.

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