| Search Tools |
| Choose the Best Search for
Your Information Need |
| |
| I need help to define
my topic... |
| I need a topic |
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| I need to understand the scope of my
topic |
| Intute |
Investigate annotated academic sites |
| INFOMINE |
Browse annotated research and educational sites
enhanced by second-tier “robot-selected” results |
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| I need to investigate alternative or
related topics |
| Grokker |
Explore a web of your topic and subtopics (Yahoo
results) |
| Clusty |
Uncover buried sites by choosing a related
cluster |
| Ask.com |
Select “Expand Your Search” |
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| I need to refine and narrow my
topic |
| Ask.com |
Select “Narrow Your Search” |
| Clusty |
Drill down into a cluster of results |
| SurfWax |
Click "Focus" to identify similar, broader, and
narrower topics |
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| |
| I need to find quality
results... |
| authoritative and scholarly sites chosen by
a subject expert |
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| personal help from experts |
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| sites ranked or tagged as valuable or
relevant |
| Google |
High PageRank means popular, relevant sites link
to the page |
| Technorati |
Browse or search user-identified subjects
(“tags”) for blog advice or opinions |
| Ask.com |
High ExpertRank indicates subject-specific
popularity |
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| primary sources |
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| I need to do research
in a specific discipline... |
| government |
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| science, engineering and technology |
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| health and life sciences |
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| law |
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| arts and humanities |
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| The timeliness of
information that I need is... |
| today |
| Google
News |
Top news stories auto-generated every 15
minutes |
| NewsNow |
Worldwide news auto-generated every 5
minutes |
| 10x10 |
Explore machine-compiled single image composed
hourly of 100 words and pictures that "matter most" on a
global scale |
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| recent |
| Yahoo
News |
One month archive with editor-created “roundups”
in Full
Coverage |
| World News
Network |
Click a category (below news item) to gather
related news or images, select Mon-Sun to track story’s
development |
| Google
News |
Click on “related” (below news item) to see
story’s development |
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|
| historical |
| American Memory |
Search America’s primary source documents and
images, browse by topic, time period, medium or place |
| Librarians' Internet Index |
Drill down into the history section or search fewer, broader
terms (e.g., “terrorists” not “Righteous Path”) |
| Digital
History |
High-quality historical resources, primary
sources, multimedia, subject guides |
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| ancient |
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| |
| I need facts... |
| a person |
|
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| a place |
| CIA World Factbook |
Select country for basic profile and
transnational issues |
| Country Studies |
Cross-search or view a country (last update
1998) - historical, social, economic, political and national
security data |
| Stately Knowledge |
Basic U.S. state facts, links to state
government site and encyclopedia (IPL KidSpace) |
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| a company |
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| general reference answers |
|
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| news background (facts, people, and
documents) |
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| |
| I need opinions and
perspectives... |
| I want opinions on current issues |
|
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| I need news from other countries'
perspectives |
|
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| I want multiple perspectives on hot
social and political topics |
|
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| I want to compare news treatment |
| Newseum |
Compare news reporting on U.S. front pages |
| PressDisplay |
Compare news reporting from 55 countries |
|
| |
| I need a specific type
of media... |
| maps |
| Google
Maps |
Search and view satellite and street-level maps
(repeat in Yahoo Maps) |
| MapMachine |
Search, browse and print country, physical and
political maps |
| American FactFinder Maps |
See trends/patterns when you superimpose chosen
geographical features and census data on U.S. maps |
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| photographs and visual images |
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| fine art |
| Artcyclopedia |
Search (e.g., artist, medium, movement, subject)
or browse for digitized art and online exhibits, see actual size |
| ADAM |
Search (refine by subject, depicted person,
place or organization), or browse (subject headings,
historical period, resource type, geographical area) digital
museums and art libraries |
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| videos |
| Singingfish |
Limit search to "video only" and specify file
format, duration, and genre |
| Yahoo
Video Search |
Search by keyword or phrase, use advanced search to limit by file format,
size, duration and domain |
| Truveo |
Video-only search engine, advanced search limits by title,
description, actor, director, genre, duration, quality |
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| radio |
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| music |
| Singingfish |
Select “music” and "audio only" |
| Google |
To find song lyrics, search (in quotes) title or
performer (plus) "song lyrics," to find information about the
song's history search title (in quotes) and "origin" |
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| sounds |
| FindSounds |
Get sound effects and music samples: select a
keyword or search a term limited by file format, quality and
size |
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| speeches |
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| quotations |
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| statistical data |
|
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| dictionary or thesaurus (for definitions,
etymology, pronunciation, synonyms) |
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| encyclopedia |
| Columbia
Encyclopedia |
Factual information (updated 6/05) |
| Wikipedia |
Volunteer-created and collaboratively edited:
valuable for current topics (e.g., people in the news),
technology (e.g., podcasting) -- information quality
uneven |
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| almanac data |
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| books and other printed works |
| RedLightGreen |
Search for books and reviews, options to refine
results, check your local library's holdings |
| Google
Scholar |
Search (free and fee) scholarly works, locate
related information using “cited by” links, use advanced search to limit (author, date,
phrase, in title, subject area) |
| A9 |
Search for books by keyword, then "Search
Inside!" to see keyword-in-context |
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| |
| I have special search
requirements... |
| run my search periodically and be
notified of new results |
| GoogleAlert |
Run Google search of 3 interests and get e-mail
or RSS notification of new results |
| Google
Alerts |
Run periodic Google searches and get e-mail (no
RSS) notification of new results |
|
|
| specify a country where my search
results are located |
|
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| use a search engine outside the
U.S. |
|
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| find sites organized by the Dewey Decimal
System or Library of Congress Classification |
|
|
| locate resources by file type |
| Google |
Limit search by file type (.pdf, .ps, .doc,
.xls, .ppt, .rtf) |
| Yahoo |
Limit search by file type (.html, .pdf,
.doc, .xls, .ppt, .xml, .txt) |
|
| |
| I am... |
| a kid |
| KidsClick! |
Find kid-friendly sites with educational content
(grades K-7) selected by librarians |
| Yahooligans |
Select from kid-safe sites (grades 2- 7)
organized by topic |
| Ask for
Kids |
Search by keyword, then select the best-match
question for answers and links |
|
|
| pretty new to the Internet |
| Google |
Largest general purpose search engine |
| Yahoo |
Large, general purpose search engine |
| Librarians' Internet Index |
Easy-to-navigate, well-annotated directory of
librarian-selected Web sites |
|
|
| an Internet wizard |
| Exalead |
Configure highly-specific searches including
proximity ("folk tales NEAR sun"), but smaller index than
Google or Yahoo |
| INFOMINE |
Configure a narrow search of a large,
comprehensive academic virtual library (Web sites, databases,
electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards,
directories of researchers) |
| JUX2 |
Compare results to Identify the strengths of
Google, Yahoo and MSN for your search | |
Total Cost: Rs. 0.00
