Library
Help Try NoodleQuest, the search strategy wizard!
| Information need | Search strategy |
| I need a few good hits fast. | Google
returns important, relevant hits quickly with bold terms; pages cached in
case the site's down. Weighs "collective judgement"1
of links in highly ranked pages. Ixquick metasearches the biggest engines using your refined search (can use phrase, boolean logic, wildcards) and returns results ranked in their top ten. |
| I have an general broad academic subject and need to focus it. | Infomine high-quality
directory; librarian-selected with flexible search options Librarians' Index to the Internet - "thinking person's Yahoo"2 frequently updated Northern Lights 3 an engine that catagorizes results into folders by concept, document and site type. Encyclopaedia Britannica has a topic article and selectiveWeb links, as does the more concise Encarta Online Encyclopedia. |
| I have a general popular or commercial topic and need to focus it. | Yahoo a
"tree" of unreviewed user submissions, thus has a commercial focus dmoz "tree" maintained by volunteer editors (AOL owns) GO focuses on entertainment, recreation, leisure and lifestyle (Disney owns) |
| I have general keyword(s) and need help refining my search strategy. | HotBot
SuperSearch's template helps you create a Boolean or phrase search,
or limit by media type, date, domain, etc. Surf Wax "Focus" to refines term before you search; "SiteSnap" abstract to review content before you go Excite suggests word lists to refine your first search term; identify a successful hit to bring up other on-target results. Altavista suggests phrase search terms on your results page. |
| I bet this search has been done before. | Ask
Jeeves! database of answers to natural language questions Direct Hit a "popularity engine" which ranks your hits based on other searchers' behaviors. |
| I need quality, evaluated pathfinders prepared by a subject expert. | About.com popular/commercial
subject guides WWW Virtual Library search or browse subject-organized full-text documents, databases and gateways Argus Clearinghouse librarian/academic subject guides BUBL LINK- organized by Dewey number (European focus) |
| I need balanced information from verified sources for a school research project to take home. | Nueva's Library catalog is geared to the school's curriculum |
| I want to search on often-ignored words in a phrase (e.g. "Vitamin A" or "to be or not to be"). | Infoseek and AltaVista includes little words (such as a, to, be, not )in the search |
| I need a pinpoint search using a unique phrase or word. | AltaVista works best for needle-in-the-haystack search for unique word or phrase (Himalayan cat not cat) |
| I need information on a proper name (a place, person, or object). | AltaVista
and Infoseek search with capital
letters to force an exact case match on the entire word (e.g. Al Gore and
NeXT) A person search on HotBot SuperSearch will retrieve the name in both reversed and normal order (e.g. Picasso, Pablo and Pablo Picasso) |
| I need biographical information. | Biographical
Dictionary - quick identification of a name Biography.com - paragraph-length biographies Lives links to biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, letters, narratives and oral histories |
| I need US government information. | First Gov is the portal for the U.S. Government, with links to state and local government. |
| I need hard-to-find or late-breaking news. | 1st Headlines
searches current news headlines and can be refined by topic, country,
breaking news. YahooNews updates continuously from newswires Northern Lights Current News updates headlines, weather, and sports continuously; can search two weeks archive |
| I need fuller coverage of news from magazine or newspaper articles. | Yahoo Full
Coverage gains you expertise through selection and organization by
editors AJR NewsLink links to US/Canada newspapers and magazines News Directory links to worldwide English language media TotalNEWS and Northern Lights search current news |
| I need accurate, objective information on hot topics. | Social
Issues - Multnomah County Library's Homework Center BIOTN compiled by Catholic university librarians about controversial current events issues (e.g. gun control, human rights, censorship) |
| I want perspectives from other countries and regions. | Regional and local search engines and country-specific Web directories located around the world. |
| I need statistical data. | Statistical Information help page at Nueva |
| Is there almanac-type information on the Internet? | Information Please (almanac facts) CIA World Factbook (country facts) |
| I need primary sources. | Online Digital
Library links US focus: American Memory, U.S. History, California Heritage Ancient Greece: Perseus Project, |
| I need images and sounds (photos, art, designs, logos, videos, music, noises), media types (Java, VRML) or file extensions (.gif) | Amazing Picture
Machine (NCREL) suitable for K-12 American Memory US historical images and sounds; search by formats (maps, motion pictures, photos and prints, sound recordings) Fine arts: FAMSF, SILS Lycos MultiMedia or AltaVista images, audio, video FindSounds locates sound effects and sample sounds HotBot SuperSearch template for media types and technologies WebSEEk at Columbia catalogues images and videos Jacob Richman has compiled an list of quality picture/art sites. |
| I need free or inexpensive software. | SoftCrawler is a metasearch of shareware sites. |
| I need a map. | TIGER Map Service
maps for Web pages from U.S.Census National Geographic Map Machine - printable country, physical and political maps, star charts MapQuest interactive service for driving directions Cartography Links |
| I need a quotation. | The Quotations Page Quoteland Quotations Archive, Search Creative Quotations, Bartlett (1901) |
| I want to get advice and opinions from others. | Ask Kids'
Connect question answering and referral by librarians AskA+ authoritative, non-commercial experts, suitable for K-12 Pitsco's Ask an Expert volunteers with varying levels of expertise Liszt catalogs discussion groups by topics |
| I need a virtual librarian. | KidsConnect, Internet Public Library Reference, Debbie, Marilyn |
| I want notice of new sites as they're announced. | Scout Report Signpost reviews of new sites not yet listed on expert sites |
| I've got a good search to rerun automatically. | Informant
repeats your search, sends e-mail when hits change. Excite's NewsTracker tracks your news topic, refining search based on results Northern Light Search Alert Service runs your search on large database |
| I want to see sites just for kids. | KidsClick! Yahooligans! |
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Debbie Abilock
© August 8, 1996-2000 Latest Revision: 8/22/2000 |
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| 1 Cohen, Laura B. "Searching
the Web: The Human Element Emerges." Choice August, 2000.
Web IV: Supplement to Volume 37. p. 23. 2 Cohen, Laura B. "The Web as a Research Tool: Teaching Strategies for Instructors." Choice August, 1999. Web III: Supplement to Volume 36. p. 29. 3 Northern Lights and FAST Search are neck-and-neck for the largest search engine databases. | ||||