Search
engine is the most important tool for finding
information from Internet. All of us use it in
varying degrees. Usually, we search for information
using one or two search engines (e.g. AltaVista,
Google) or directories (e.g. Yahoo). But these
search tools have their limitations:
-
None of them cover all pages
on the Web.
-
There is a long lead time (often
weeks) to index new pages.
-
They generally cover the Web
only, excluding other important information
sources on the Internet.
-
They usually index only "static"
Web pages, excluding the large body of information
stored in databases on Web sites and retrieved
on demand.
-
They employ limited "intelligence"
in their search - mostly relying on occurrence
or non-occurrence of search word.
However, even within its limitations
- search engines can provide far more useful information
provided you invest some time and effort in understanding
how they work and learn tips on getting the most
out of them. The problem is few people take the
time to read and understand the directions. Consequently,
some Internet users wind up with thousands of
irrelevant matches simply because they don't know
how to conduct an accurate search.
While we shall discuss how to refine
your searches and extract more from search engines
in future issues - here is one technique to quickly
get more from your search - by using meta search
engine.
Meta search engines query multiple
search engines on the Web simultaneously and compile
the results for you. Most meta search engines
allow you to search web-pages, files, music, images
etc.
So, instead of going through each
search engine - use meta search and get results
from multiple search engines at one place.
Some of the better known Meta Search
Engines are:
Dogpile: http://www.dogpile.com
It searches a broad varieties of information like:
Web Search Engines: About, Ah-ha, Ask Jeeves,
Dogpile Web Catalog, ePilot,
FindWhat, Kanoodle, LookSmart,
Open Directory, Overture,
SearchHippo, Sprinks and Yahoo!
Images: Same as Web Search Engine
Audio/MP3: Astraweb, Audio Galaxy and MP3Board
Files: Yaga
News: Dogpile Web Catalog
Multimedia: VastVideo
Metacrawler: http://www.metacrawler.com
Very powerful meta search engine
Mamma: http://www.mamma.com/
Called Mother of all search engines !
search.com : http://search.cnet.com/
Online forms for most major and minor search
engines from CNET
Jayde Online Directory: http://www.jayde.com/
Surfwax: http://www.surfwax.com/
Helps focus searches and provides real-time page
summaries
ProFusion : http://www.profusion.com
Metor : http://www.metor.com/
SearchBug : http://www.searchbug.com/
Go ahead and use them and feel free
to share your experience with us.
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