Search the Web

There are many excellent search tools that can help you find what you need on the Web. The following guides from Infopeople can help you sort out the differences between the major players in Web search:

  • Best Search Engines Quick Guide goes over some of the differences between Google, Yahoo!, and Teoma.
  • Best Search Tools Chart is a handy guide to many more search tools, including major search engines like Google and Yahoo! but also metasearch engines and subject directories.

Here are some of our favorite search tools:

Major Search Engines

Google: Still the most popular search engine. Quick, clean, and easy.

Yahoo!: Not just a search engine, but a directory of the Web and portal to many online services.

AltaVista: One of the first major search engines. Lets you quickly and easily search just Images, MP3/Audio, Video, or News.

Kids' Search Engines

Yahooligans: a Web guide especially for kids. Search or browse by category.

KidsClick!: billed as "Web search for kids, by librarians," another nice search engine and extensive sets of links you can browse by topic.

Scholarly Search Tools

Note: The library's databases, accessible from home with your library card number, are a great first place to look for academic and scholarly journal and magazine articles. Library databases are part of the so-called "hidden Internet" or "deep Web," which includes material that does not appear in major search engine results. The following free Web resources may be useful as well:

Google Scholar: Search just the scholarly journal literature. Some articles are available for free online. Others may ask you to pay for access. You may be able to get articles for free through a local public or college library--just ask us.

INFOMINE: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections, compiled by librarians at the University of California, Riverside. Links to both free and fee-based Web resources that are appropriate for scholarly work.