Sorting Out Internet Search Engines

Using Internet search engines to find information on the Web can initially appear to be daunting and confusing. Which one should you use? What kind of search results will you get? Is one really better than another? The key to choosing a correct search engine is to think about the type of information you are seeking. Are you looking for sports scores or material for a term paper? The Internet search engines of today tend to fall into useful groupings which offer pertinence to different types of information. Knowing what you are looking for and understanding the types of search engine capabilities available will give you a head start in finding the information source you are looking for.

Internet Search Engine Groupings

The Major Internet Search Engines

The Meta Crawlers and Bots

Academic and Scholarly Search Engines

Open Access Portals and Scholarly Repositories

News, RSS and Blog Search Engines

Audio, Video and Podcasting Search Engines

The Deep and Hidden Web

Government Information Portals and Search Engines

What's it worth? How to assess the authenticity of your Web source.

Who said so?

• Who is the author of this page?
• What is their institutional affiliation?
• What credentials to they have?
• Does the author really exist?

Why did they say it?

• Why does this page exist and what is it's purpose?
• Does there appear to be a hidden agenda?
• Is the page educational, informative, newsworthy?

When did they say it

• When was the Web page published?
• Is it being maintained and updated regularly?
• Are the links working correctly and do they lead to accurate sources?

How did they say it?

• Is the page clean and accurate?
• Is the spelling, grammar and punctuation correct?
• Do the ideas put forth make logical sense or does something seem askew?