Google

How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory

Fields & File Types

If you want to search for...Choose...
Audio/MusicAllTheWeb AltaVista Dogpile Fazzle FindSounds.com Lycos Music Lycos Multimedia Search Singingfish

Date last modifiedAllTheWeb Advanced Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search Ask.com Advanced Search Exalead Advanced Search Google Advanced Search HotBot Advanced Search Yahoo Advanced Web Search

Domain/Site/URLAllTheWeb Advanced Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search AOL Advanced Search Ask.com Advanced Search Google Advanced Search Lycos Advanced Search MSN Search Search Builder SearchEdu.com Yahoo Advanced Web Search

File FormatAllTheWeb Advanced Web Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search AOL Advanced Search Exalead Advanced Search Yahoo Advanced Web Search

Geographic locationAsk.com Advanced Search Exalead Advanced Search HotBot Advanced Search Lycos Advanced Search MSN Search Search Builder Yahoo Advanced Web Search

ImagesAllTheWeb AltaVista The Amazing Picture Machine Ask.com Images Ditto Dogpile Fazzle Google Image Search IceRocket Ixquick Mamma Picsearch

LanguageAllTheWeb Advanced Web Search AOL Advanced Search Ask.com Advanced Search Exalead Advanced Search Google Language Tools HotBot Advanced Search iBoogie Advanced Web Search Lycos Advanced Search MSN Search Search Builder Yahoo Advanced Web Search

Multimedia & videoAll TheWeb AltaVista Dogpile Fazzle IceRocket Search For Video Singingfish Yahoo Video Search

Page Title/URLAOL Advanced Search Fazzle Google Advanced Search Yahoo Advanced Web Search ZapMeta Advanced Web Search


Search logic

If you want to use...Choose...
Boolean operatorsAltaVista Advanced Web Search AllTheWeb Advanced Search Dogpile Google [OR only] Ixquick

Full Boolean logic with parentheses
e.g., behavior and (cats or felines)
AlltheWeb Advanced Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search Exalead Ixquick MSN Search

Implied Boolean +/-Most search engines offer this option
Boolean logic using search form terminologyMost advanced search options offer this, including:
AllTheWeb Advanced Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search AOL Advanced Search Ask.com Advanced Search Exalead Google Advanced Search IceRocket Advanced Search MSN Search Search Builder Yahoo Advanced Web Search

Proximity searchingExalead Google [by default] Ixquick


Search options

If you want..Choose...
Alternative search terms
SurfWax

A user fill-in search formMany search engines offer this, including:
AlltheWeb Advanced Web Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search AOL Search Advanced Search Ask.com Advanced Search Google Advanced Search IceRocket Advanced Search MSN Search Builder Yahoo Advanced Web Search

Search for documents similar to those in existing resultsGoogle

TruncationExalead Ixquick

Your search stated in plain EnglishAsk.com Brainboost Ixquick MSN Search

Translation of pages retrieved as search results, or any text or Web page, to and from selected languagesBabel Fish

An exact phrase within quotationsMost search engines offer this option

An exact phrase from a template choiceMany search templates offer this. For example: AllTheWeb Advanced Search AltaVista Advanced Web Search Fazzle Google Advanced Search IceRocket Advanced Search

Multiple search tools searched simultaneously with duplicate records removedChubba Clusty Copernic Don Busca Fazzle Ixquick Mamma MetaCrawler Query Server SurfWax Yooci more...


Search Results

If you want...Choose...
Results based on linking, i.e., number of links from highly rated Web pagesA9 Alexa Web Search AltaVista Ask.com Google Google Web Directory [Many search engines use this technology as part of their results ranking strategy]

Results clustered by concept and/or type of site (often laid out as a "horizontal" list of topics in addition to a single vertical list of results)Accumo Search AllinOne MetaSearch Ask.com Clusty Don Busca Exalead iBoogie Infonetware metaEUREEKA Kartoo KillerInfo Mooter Quintura Search AllinOne MetaSearch Turbo10 Ujiko Vivisimo Yahoo! Mindset

Option to search on related topics

AllTheWeb Dogpile Factbites

Results in graphical/visual format

Kartoo Mooter Quintura Ujiko Webbrain

Results with thumbnail images of retrieved sites

Don Busca Exalead IceRocket

Queries stored at the site and notification of new results

Google Alert Karnak TracerLock

Queries stored by the search service for repeat searches

Copernic
Search results appear as you typeGoogle Suggest SurfWax LookAhead (RSS feeds)


Specialty Searches

If you want to search...Choose...
The Deep Web (not generally covered by search spiders)Complete Planet Google Search.Com Turbo10 [Many search engine sites offer deep Web searches. For example, see Ixquick and InfoGrid]

BlogsAsk.com Blogdigger Bloglines BlogPulse Bloogz Clusty Feedster Globe of Blogs Google Blog Search IceRocket Sphere Technorati Yahoo News Search

Files in FTP sites (text, multimedia, software, etc.)

Ftpsearchengines.com Oth Net
Library materialsWorldCat

News (multiple sources searched simultaneously)AlltheWeb: News AltaVista - News FindNews.org Google News Alerts InfoGrid NewsNow NewsTrove.com Pandia Newsfinder RocketNews SurfWax News Accumulator Topix.net The WorldNews Network

News (RSS feeds)Ask.com Daypop Memigo NewsIsFree

PodcastsPluggd Podcast.net Podcast Search Service PODZINGER Yahoo Podcasts

RSS feedsChordata Feed-Directory.com RSSfeeds.com SurfWax LookAhead Syndic8.com

Saved Web pagesFurl Spurl.net

Scholarly materials, e.g,. books, articles, etc.Google Book Search Google Scholar Live Search Books Windows Live Academic

Search trails, e.g., paths taken from search results to selected pages

Trexy
Site analysisGoLexa

Usenet newsgroup postingsGoogle Groups

Web eventsFindWebEvents.com


Your own customized search engineEurekster Swicki Google Custom Search Engine Rollyo


Reference sources (dictionaries, encyclopedias, e-mail and address lookups, calculators, quotations, news, government info, statistics etc.)

Reference Collection (U Albany Libraries)
Professionally maintained directoriesAbout Academic Info BUBL LINK INFOMINE Librarians' Internet Index Intute The Scout Archives Virtual Learning Resources Center WWW Virtual Library more...


Directories maintained by volunteers



JoeAnt Open Directory Project (DMOZ)


Source:-)

http://www.internettutorials.net/
All tutorials are maintained by Laura Cohen, Web Support Librarian, University at Albany, SUNY.