Search Engines
Search Engines

WHAT IS A SEARCH ENGINE?

A search engine helps you find information you need to locate. All you need to do is find the key word or words that describe what you want and your search engine does the rest. The "engine" will produce a list of links that you may explore by clicking on each link.

TIP: All websites are not accurate or reliable. Look for these six criteria:

Purpose of the site (What is the intent of the site?)
Authority of the author (Is the author and his/her credentials listed?)
Accuracy of the information (Is the information correct?)
Objectivity of the information (Bias or slanted?)
Currency (Is it up to date?)
Coverage (Is the topic covered in depth?)

TIP: If a link produces unwanted results, back out of the site. If a link produces inappropriate results, report it to your teacher and back out of the site.

Common search engines and their addresses:

Google http://www.google.com/
Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/
Yahooligans http://www.yahooligans.com/
Lycos http://www.lycos.com/
Alta Vista http://altavista.com/
Excite http://excite.com/
DogPile http://www.dogpile.com/
Ask Jeeves http://www.ask.com/
InfoSeek http://infoseek.go.com/
Mamma http://mamma.com/

Techniques for Searching:

What you Want
Key Words/Phrases
Strategy
How It Looks In the Search Engine Query Box
Mexican Restaurants in San Antonio, Tx Mexican Restaurants & San Antonio, Tx Quotes & the Plus Sign "Mexican restaurants" + "San Antonio, Tx"
Graduation Party Invitations graduation, party, invitations Quotes "graduation party invitations"