A select list of Internet search tools for Education practitioners, administrators
and researchers, recommended for their effectiveness, user-friendliness and
relevance.
General search engines
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Excellent starting points for general and subject-specific web searching.
- Alta
Vista
Extensive international coverage of Web sites and Usenet newsgroups. Links
to mirror sites in several European countries including UK. Strong commercial
focus.
Special features: Simple search, power search, online help
and translation facility.
www.altavista.com
- Anzwers
Focus on Australian and New Zealand sites
Special features: Searches can be limited by date, location,
media. Anzwers Explore allows subject browsing.
www.anzwers.com.au
- Google
Indexes over 1,000,000,000,000 web sites. Clear layout and powerful search
analysis.
Special features: Simple and advanced search. Filtering
option.
www.google.com.au
- Sensis
Searches worldwide, but can be limited to Australian sites. Particularly
useful for commercial information, including White and Yellow Pages, postcodes
and street atlas.
Special features: Super search for complex searching, Set
preferences to save customised search strategies.
www.sensis.com.au
- Webcrawler
WebCrawler searches the results from a combined set of popular search
engines including Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves, About and Looksmart.
Special features: Search
by words, exact phrase or category. Several search filters.
www.webcrawler.com
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Meta-search engines
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Useful for searching several search engines simultaneously for wider coverage.
Best used for quick, uncomplicated searches.
- Dogpile
Extremely effective and flexible meta-search tool, with access to over 15
search engines. Covers the web, news, Usenet and FTP sites.
Special features: Simple search, subject directory, customized
search (allows searcher to select specific search engines). Search results
include links to Electric Library and Amazon.com, and alternative search
terms.
www.dogpile.com
- SurfWax
Innovative, meaning-based search tool that allows the searcher to review
individual web pages whilst still at the results screen.
Special features: Basic search, Focus (thesaurus guides
searcher to alternative search terms), SiteSnaps (abstracts of particular
sites), My Personal Searcher (sets customized searching profile).
www.surfwax.com
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Subject-specific directories
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- BUBL
A comprehensive list of quality subject directories to Internet resources,
including education and management.
Special features: Basic and advanced searching.
www.bubl.ac.uk
- Intute: social sciences
Extensive coverage of Social Sciences and Education websites. International,
but with a British focus.
Special features: Basic and advanced searching, thesaurus,
Grapevine (professional contacts and news).
www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/
Newsgroup and discussion list finders
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- Forum One
Searches over 310,000 Web discussions by subject, including Education.
www.forumone.com
Software and multimedia finders
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- Shareware
Searches the Web for downloadable software - including PC, multimedia and
internet utilities.
www.shareware.com
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Internet news
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- Search
Engine Watch
Up to date news of internet and search engine developments. Includes searching
tips and search engine reviews and ratings.
searchenginewatch.com
- Scout
Report
Published every Friday both by email and on the internet, the Scout Report
gives brief reports about topical information on the internet. The Scout
Report is the result of the Internet Scout project, based at the Dept of
Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current/
- Free
Pint
Free pint gives brief reports about resources on the internet for different
topics every fortnight. It is published by email and on the internet.
www.freepint.com
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