Search the web
You will find in this section a list of search tools and Internet research tutorials recommended by the Leddy Library. When choosing items for this list, we particularly focus upon up-to-date search tools that index scholarly information, where possible However, remember that as you search the web, you will need to think critically about the information you find. Also remember that the Leddy subscribes to many print and online research tools and journal titles which contain reputable scholarly information -- and those tools may be more useful to you in academic research than more generalized, freely available sources on the web.
 Search Directories & Indexes
Search Engines
Meta-Search Engines
The Invisible Web
Discussion Groups
Lists of Search Engines
Updating Sources and Weblogs
Help with Internet Searching
Search Directories & Indexes
Search directories are generally smaller than the more expansive search engine and are good for searching broad topic areas. They work much like the Yellow Pages in the telephone book. A directory usually organizes web sites into hierarchical subject categories moving from broad to specific, as in:
Canada > Science > Geography > Cartography > Maps.
By providing lists of subcategories related to your general request, this kind of tool helps focus your search. Unlike search engines, directories are often indexed by human beings and sometimes provide brief annotations that describe the indexed sites.
Infomine
A searchable collection of scholarly resources intended as "...a comprehensive showcase, virtual library and reference tool containing highly useful Internet/Web resources including databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, listservs, online library card catalogs, articles and directories of researchers..."
BUBL
The Bulletin Board for Library Systems offers both subject arrangment and searching for Internet sources. BUBL Link offers a search or browse of subject sources. BUBL Search offers a range of subject specific Internet search tools.
The Scout Report Archives
The Scout Report Archives is a searchable and browseable database to over seven years' worth of the Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports. It contains 12138 critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites and mailing lists.
Yahoo Canada
A directory of sites organized by subject, with a search function that will search within the whole directory. You can limit your search to Canadian sites only, which can improve your response time. However, remember that not every Canadian website is indexed here.
back to top
Search Engines
Search engines work best when you search for a specific phrase or name, known as a "keyword." Such engines are far-reaching tools that rely on "spiders," or "crawlers," to index web pages one at a time, recording the occurrences of the specified keywords found in the title, description and text of the page.
back to top
Meta-Search Engines
Search tools that can explore several engines or directories themselves, rather than individual sites, are known as meta-engines. They automatically submit your chosen keywords to several different kinds of tools at once and produce a summary of your hits within each one. Meta-engines are great for information on current events or very broad topics. However, remember that you do sacrifice some precision in your search when using a meta-search tool. Three good meta-engines are:
Ixquick: Searches AltaVista, AllTheWeb, Excite, HotBot, MSN, Yahoo & more. Results are fairly precise and this tool is aimed at an academic audience.
Vivisimo: Searches mainstream news sites and a handful of search engines. Contains a very helpful document clustering feature which sorts your search results into folders for easier browsing.
MetaCrawler: Searches AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, Looksmart & odds 'n ends
back to top
The Invisible Web
Got all the different types of search technologies sorted out? Well that's not all there is. It turns out that there may be billions of web pages that are not visible to most search engines and directories because many search engine spiders cannot see what's buried in large web databases like online library catalogues, academic journal databases, census data, medical research, art images, music files and much more. The spiders will record the existence of the library, but won't be able to tell you what's in it.The result is that all kinds of interesting and useful information will be missed in your searches.
Invisible-Web.net: The companion site to the book of the same name, this site of databases has been compiled by Gary Price and Chris Sherman.
Profusion: Basically a meta-search tool that passes your search on to invisible web databases as well as search engines and directories.
back to top
Discussion Groups
Many people, including scholars, participate in listservs and newsgroups online. Sometimes these groups can be very valuable sources of networking and information-gathering. The following tools will help you to find discussion groups of interest to you, and/or to search within the text of some of these online groups.
Google Groups: Searches within the conversations in a large number of Internet discussion groups. Formerly Deja News.
Lists of Search Engines
These lists are useful in helping you identify specialized search engines.
Invisible-Web.net: The companion site to the book of the same name, this site of databases has been compiled by Gary Price and Chris Sherman.
Profusion: Basically a meta-search tool that passes your search on to invisible web databases as well as search engines and directories.
back to top
Updating Sources and Weblogs
These sources provide lists and annotations describing new sites available online.
Scout Report: A weekly publication providing summaries and links to new resources, along with ability to search their archives.
Scout Weblog: Updated daily with news of new Internet sites that do not fit into the categories or criteria of the Scout Reports.
back to top
Help!
These tutorials and guides will help you to learn more about searching the web.
back to top
updated September 2005 |