Tutorials on Selecting & Using Searchers

• AltaVista (excellent and very comprehensive tutorial for search the WWW)
• AskScott ("Just as the reference librarian in a library helps you find the best reference work for your search, AskScott helps you find the most appropriate Internet reference tool for your search.")
• Bare Bones 101 by U of South Carolina (20 easy, quick, bare bones lessons)
• Teaching Library Internet Workshops @ U of California, Berkeley ("Constructing and refining searches in Google: Detailed Searching Instructions")
• Nueva - Choose the best engine for your purpose (basic help in choosing the right site or search engine)
• Search Engine Watch (tutorials & comparisons and lists of the major search engines)
• Searchenginez (basic tips on how to search)
• Tutorial: Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet @ The Web Tools (very complete tutorial ... downloadable file)
• WebQuest Training Materials ("Search Techniques: A critical aspect of WebQuest design is knowing how to find good resources on the Web. Three new guides are now available: Before you Search, Seven Steps to Better Searching, and Specialized Search Engines.")

tip: most searchers have advanced features ... Boolean operators (cat OR feline ... new AND jersey) ... wildcards* (histor* will match history, histories, historian, historical, etc.) ... quotation marks for exact matches ("NEW JERSEY" will match NEW JERSEY, while NEW JERSEY will match NEW JERSEY, any thing with NEW or JERSEY)

Top

Directories (subject catalogs / guides)

• about.com - web search (listed by subject)
• about.com (over 700 guides on thousands of topics)
• AOL Search (has web directories with annotated links)
• Awesome Library (K-12 education directory with annotated & reviewed links)
• Britannica - The Web's best sites, chosen by our editors (annotated links)
• BUBL LINK - Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas (annotated links, arranged by subject or by Dewey Decima System, A-Z)
• Education World - where educators go to learn (curriculum materials, education search engine, educational directory of reviewed and annoated links)
• Environmental Organization WebDirectory (cover many areas from animals to education to social science as they relate to the environment)
• Galaxy @ Einet (has categorized links ... they are different from its search engine)
• GO.com (evaluated links ... don't miss the searcher at the bottom of pages)
• GoTo (uses Inktomi search engine ... annotated directory listings ... sites pay for higher listings)
• HotBot (power search .. uses Inktomi search engine ... annotated directory listings)
• INFOMINE - Scholarly Internet Resource Collections @ U of California
• infoseek (directories with annotated links ... search engine)
• IPL Reference Center (pictorial interface to directories)
• KidsClick! ("web search for kids by librarians")
• Librarians' Index to the Internet @ lii.org (browse or search subject directory with annotated links, browse by alphabetical topic list.
• Look Smart ("directory links to more than 1 million of the most useful Web sites ... updated every day by a large staff of editors who look for the best information on the Web ... each site is reviewed for quality and placed into one of more than 70,000 categories ... Beyond our directory, we give you access to an index of more than 100 million pages through our search partners")
• Lycos (advanced search ... annotated links ... search engine and directory)
• My Virtual Reference Desk (web guide, reference links, etc.)
• NetGuide
• Open Directory (advanced search ... "[our] goal is to produce the most comprehensive directory of the web, by relying on a vast army of volunteer editors" ... annotated links)
• Study Web (over 84,000 categorized and reviewed sites)
• WWW Virtual Library (annotated links)
• Yahoo (power search .. uses Inktomi search engine to first search its directories and then Inktomi's database)

Top

Search Engines (searchable indices)

• Aliweb (search engine with categorized links ... "The Web's oldest search engine")
• AltaVista (power search)
• AOL Search (has web directories with annotated links)
• EducatorsNet - Your #1 Education Search Engine ("The World's #1 Education Search Engine .. Over 8000 Reviewed Listings and Growing!")
• Galaxy @ Einet (categorized links are different from search engine)
• Google ("uses a complicated mathematical analysis, calculated on more than a billion hyperlinks on the web, to return high-quality search results so you don't have to sift through junk")
• infoHiway (has some web guides)
• infoseek (power search ... also has web directories with annotated links)
• Lycos (advanced search ... annotated links ... search engine and directory)
• Northern Light (power search ... search engine ... fee charged for private collections, most searches are free)
• Thunderstone - web site catalog (uses Texis search engine)

Top

Meta & Multiple Searchers
(simultaneously use multiple general search engines or choose search engine)

• All-in-One Search Page
• Ask Jeeves! (phrase what you are looking for in the form of a question and Jeeves will attempt to help you find what you are looking for)
• Beaucoup! (searchers chosen by category or geographical area)
• byteSearch.com
• Cyber411
• Dogpile
• 800 go - twelve search engines in one and more!
• Go 2 Net
• Internet Sleuth @ iSleuth.com (select your search engine)
• LincOn.com - search index
• MetaCrawler
• Metasearch
• Mamma: The Mother of All Search Engines
• Searchallinone.com
• Proteus Internet Search
• SavvySearch: Search once, find everything!
• Starting-Point

Top

Kid Searchers

• AOL for Kids
• Ask Jeeves for Kids
• Disney's Internet Guide
• KidsClick! ("web search for kids by librarians")
• Super Snooper ("intent of Super Snooper is to present only those Internet sites that do not contain information of pornographic, violent or hatred-related nature")
• Lycos Search Guard
• Yahooligans! The Web Guide for Kids

Top

Specialized Searchers: People, Phone Numbers, Companies, Addresses,
Area Codes, Zip Codes, Doctors, Hospitals, etc.

• doctors: American Medical Association's Physician Select ("Physician Select provides information on virtually every licensed physician in the United States and its possessions, including more than 650,000 doctors of medicine (MD) and doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine (DO). All physician credential data have been verified for accuracy and authenticated by accrediting agencies, medical schools, residency training programs, licensing and certifying boards, and other data sources.")
• hospitals: Hospital Select ("Hospital Select is a hospital locator, providing information on virtually every hospital in the United States. Hospital Select provided in cooperation with the American Medical Association.")
• medical groups: AMA Group Select ("compiled and published by the American Medical Association as a reference source of demographic and professional information on physician group practices in the United States")

Top

Robots (automated bots or spiders)

• BotSpot: Search - the spot for all bots & intelligent agents

Top

If you find problems with these links: broken, worthless, or changed links, email a note to Webmaster and explain the problem.

If you find other educational links, please include the complete Internet address (URL), a concise description of the site and under which category it should be listed.