Four Ways to Search the Internet
(Idea from Tom Snyder Productions Professional Development)

If you want to know more, Visit the Search Engine Watch for more and up to date information about search engines, especially the EKGs that give graphs and stats on your favorite search engines.

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Use Category Searches to browse through various categories (like a card catalog in the library). Click on the heading topics to browse or surf through the information.

• hierarchical; resources organized by topic and subtopic
• fewer resources, not as overwhelming as getting thousands of returns from a search
• resources are collected and reviewed by people
• often include annotations and reviews
  
• Examples
  • Yahoo One of the most popular Internet search pages. (This page also has a keyword search).
  • Yahooligans Kids version of Yahoo, it filters inappropriate material.

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Use Keyword Searches to find information (some of these also have category searches). Type in a keyword and see what you find. It is best to start very specific and move to more general if that doesn't find what you need.

• This is the most common way to search the Internet, but it can also be the most frustrating.
• resources collected by computer programs called spiders or robots
• have various rules for searching - read the help or tips - i.e. "put a phrase in quotes" to search for the phrase in some search engines
  
• Examples
  • Ask Jeeves for Kids! Type a question, get an answer!
  • DirectHit
  • Dogpile (searches several other engines)
  • Excite
  • Google (ranks sites based on the number of links to the site - by popularity) It gives you the top ten from several search engines. You get the best of the best and I usually find what I want in the first page. If not, I try different key words.
  • HotBot uses Inktomi as its engine, which from a Feb. 2000 study, searches the greatest part of the Internet (50%) Other newer search engines that use Inktomi are Snap, Iwon, Go, and GoTo.
  • Kids' Tools for Searching the Internet
  • Lycos
  • Metacrawler (searches several other engines)
  • Yahoo (generates the greatest amount of e-commerce traffic - most popular search engine)

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Use Specialized Search Engines and category lists that search only specific areas of information (some of those below are paid resources)

• scope is limited by factors such as topic, time, geography, or other factors
• can be much more effective than a general search engine
  
• Examples
  • An overview and listing of specialized search engines
  • The Amazing Picture Machine (search for graphics on the web)
  • Ask An Expert: Main Menu List of experts you can ask questions on many many topics!
  • Beaucoup A "big" listing of search engines.
  • The Bible Gateway Search for keywords, cross references, lots of translations and more. Get students to do research on keywords!
  • BigFoot Email address white pages.
  • CIRCLE A clearinghouse of curriculum and instruction resources for Seventh-day Adventist educators.
  • Education World (TM) Search Engine
  • Ellen G. White Estate Search Search the writings of Ellen White.
  • Grades A+ A database of curriculum web sites from Classroom Connect
  • Library of Congress
  • Search.com lets you search for special search engines in your area of interest.
  • Shareware.com searches for shareware and freeware.
  • See also this Reference page.

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Use Compilations of Web Resources compiled by other people

• other people, often other educators, have done the work
• a great place to start
  
• Examples
  • Classroom Resources includes lists of Reference material, Resources for Teachers, and much more.
  • The CEARCH Virtual Schoolhouse from Sunsite. Lots of useful links.
  • Educator's Toolkit Lots of lists of useful information, including some on thematic units. Check out the Teacher's Desk ring at the bottom of the page (page for educators by educators)
  • ERIC's lesson plan page Lots here!
  • The Gateway to Educational Materials "provides the key to one-stop, any-stop access to high quality Internet lesson plans, curriculum units and other education resources."
  • Learning in Motion's Top Ten List of web sites.
  • Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators An educator created page with incredible resources. Any good Internet class should mention this site!
  • Project Registry from Global SchoolNet. Check out the Internet projects listed!
  • Score California's list of sites for various topics. Some very nicely done CyberGuides with lessons and activities to go with the content area.
  • Teachers@Work Over 1000 of the best Internet sites for educators (reviewed and rated!)
  • TrackStar A site that guides a student through a collection of sites. Annotations and questions accompany each site. Collections of sites for all subject and grade levels.
  • Webliography Internet subject guides by librarians. Compact and precise.

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© 2000 AVLN. Created by Janine Lim for the course Integrating Technology into the Curriculum.