CLIS529 Links From Textbook
Chapter 3 - Search Strategies and Techniques

Subject Directories

Yahoo!  -  An extensive index of the best of the web.

About.com  -  A network of sites led by expert guides.

Looksmart  -  A collection of quality websites, accessible through a well-organized, easy-to-navigate directory of familiar categories and subcategories.

Open Directory Project  -  One of the largest directories on the web, developed and managed by a large group of volunteers who are experts in their areas of interest.

More Subject Directories

Argus Clearinghouse  -  A subject catalog of subject catalogs.

WWW Virtual Library  -  This is the oldest catalog of the web. Created by the web's founder, Tim Berners-Lee. Items can be viewed alphabetically, by clicking through a hierarchy or by keyword search.

Infomine   -  A scholarly collection of directories.

Search Engines - The most comprehensive results

Google  -  A no-frills search engine that aims to do one thing well - find relevant sites fast. It has a sophisticated system for ranking results, and it searches a database as comprehensive as some of the bigger search engines. Google's list is clean and easy to read.

More Search Engines

Albert   -  This search engine will track your search pattern and limit results to what it thinks you want based on your past history.

Altavista   -  One of the most popular, sophisticated and comprehensive search engines. It has one of the largest indexes and returns consistently useful information at lightning speed. It provides more sophisticated refining tools than others.

Excite   -  Searches not by keyword but by concept. It's a great tool if you are not sure of the exact term.

AlltheWeb.com  -  Claims to have the biggest database and promises soon to have everything on the web in its database. It allows searching in a wide range of languages and includes audio and video on the web.

Hotbot   -  Up-to-date, incredibly fast and makes refining searches very easy. After typing your search term, you can modify your choices with the help of pull-down menus on the left of the page.

Invisible Web  -  Consists of searchable information resources whose contents cannot be indexed by traditional search engines. These include databases, archived material, and interactive tools such as calculators and dictionaries.

Karnak   -  Aimed at serious researchers. Stores your searches on its server and keeps searching for several days.

Lycos   -  Offers links to a huge range of services.

Northern Light  -  One of the most highly rated search engines online. Searches news and business sources as well as the web. It also sorts its results into well-labeled custom folders along the left-hand side of the page.

Oingo   -  The first "meaning-based search tool." It searches meaning rather than literal text, which they claim is a more human, intuitive way to search.

Teoma   -  This site, launched in the spring of 2001, promises to challenge Google in providing relevant results fast. Its database is small, but it offers some unique features, including key lists of links on particular topics ("Expert Links"), and results grouped by topic.

Webcrawler  -  Offers many of the same features as other search engines.

Wisenut   -  This new search engine has built one of the largest databases on the web (though not quite as large as Google's). It offers features such as organizing the results into categories, and a feature called "Sneak-a-Peek" that lets you get a preview of the page without leaving Wisenut's results.

Specialty Search Engines

CopSeek.com   -  An amazing, huge collection of links to a wide range of law enforcement sites around the world.

Findlaw   -  Provides a vast array of legal information, including US sites and sites from seventy-five other countries, including Canada.

Fodor's Resource Center  -  A great resource for travel information from an organization that has gained a reputation for producing excellent travel guides.

Hoover's Online  -  Provides a lot of free information on (and links to) the web sites of all publicly traded and many private US companies, as well as other large companies. You only need to know company name, or even part of it.

MapBlast   -  A great resource for all kinds of maps from around the world.

NewsTrawler   -  Allows the user to search multiple news archives at once. It can access hundreds of newspapers and broadcast archives around the world.

Political Information.com  -  Strictly American, this site indexes thousands of web sites for those interested in political campaigns, political policy making, and political news.

Statistics Every Writer Should Know: Finding Data on the Internet   -  A guide to web sites that have statistical information.

StreetEye   -  A metasearch engine for investment information.

The Terrorism Research Centre   -  A collection of links to quality resources on terrorism. It also features essays on current issues involving terrorism.

Metasearch Tools

In addition to search engines, there are sites that allow you to submit your query to several search engines at once. Generally, they are basic level searches and don't allow you to refine your searches in very sophisticated ways.

AskJeeves   -  Allows you to ask questions in plain English instead of having to come up with precise search terms.

C4  -  Offers the option of asking in plain English or using keyword search terms. Can customize your search by choosing which search tool to use. Also, can search beyond the web to include current news, financial news, and discussion groups.

Dogpile   -  This site's speed and flexibility set it apart as a powerful metasearch site.

Gogettem   -  Sends your search to up to eighteen other search tools at the same time. You can choose which search engines, and it opens each search engine in a different browse window.

Mamma   -  "The mother of all search engines" - conducts parallel searches of several popular search engines, properly formats the search term for each engine and organizes the results into a uniform format, presenting them by relevance and sources.

MetaCrawler   -  A highly rated multisearch site that sends your query to several search engines at once, organizes the results into a uniform list, drops duplicate results, and then ranks the remainder by relevance.

Profusion   -  Gives the largest number of options for tailoring your search and displaying the results.

Search.com   -  Formerly SavvySearch, this site is simple and fast. It presents blended results that combine pages found at major search engines,directories, and paid-listing sites.

Vivisimo   -  A smart new search engine which emphasizes prevision instead of a large number of results. The interface is clean and simple. It is easy to use and intuitive and the results are quite relevant.

Starting pages for journalists - a place to browse

The Beat Page  -  A jumping-off point for journalism resources, organized by subject or beats, maintained by investigative reporters and editors in the US

European Journalism Page  -  Sites and resources of interest to journalists working in or covering Europe.

FACSnet   -  A collection of selected online resources for reporters produced by the Foundation for American Communications (FACS). It includes a good database of expert sources.

Internet Journalism Resources  -  A great collection of search tools and other resources for journalists. Maintained by Shelton Gunaratne, a journalism professor at Moorhead State University in Minnesota.

Journalism Access  -  A small collection of useful links, including some offbeat ones. Maintained by Mindy McAdams, a journalism professor at the University of Florida (and one of the authors of the textbook.)

JournalismNet  -  An extensive collection of great links for journalists. It includes links not just to US sites, but to Canadian, UK and other European sites. Maintained by Julian Sher, a Canadian television producer now living in the US who trains reporters around the world about Internet research techniques.

PowerReporting  -  Some of the best links for journalists to web sites, search tools, and government and company information. Organized by beat. Has a list of the top 100 web sites for journalists. Maintained by Bill Dedman, a reporter from the New York Times who trains reporters in computer-assisted reporting and online reporting techniques.

Teaching Journalism Online  -  A small collection of links and other sites for people who teach Internet research techniques and online journalism. Maintained by Mary McGuire, a journalism professor at Carleton University (and one of the authors of the textbook.)

Also, FYI

CIA - The World Factbook 2002  -  A great resource for factual information about countries around the world.

Marist 100  -  A list of sites especially for professional researchers.

LibWeb - Library WWW Servers  -  A list of sites especially for professional researchers.

Infomine   -  Another site that provides links to collections of scholarly research online.

Search Engine Watch  -  To perfect your search skills, find out how search tools compare. Or, read the Search Engine Showdown.

PowerReporting  -  has a great tutorial and tips on searching the Net.

University of California at Berkeley  -  also provides a tutorial about online searching.

Yahoo! Canada  -  for looking for Canadian web sites.

National Library of Canada's subject tree  -  provides Canadian information by subject.

Google search -- Uncle Sam - Google's search of government sites.

AltaVista Canada  -  search for a wide range of sites.

Searchopolis  -  good for educational material. It also filters adult content.

Ixquick  -  a new metasearch tool that is smarter than most It is fast and comprehensive, searching 14 search engines, ranking the results and identifying the engine that found the result.

Statistical Resources for Journalists  -  a great collection of links to statistical resources.

US Census  -  updated in 2000.

Statistics Canada   -  for Canadian statistics.

Poynter Institute for Media Studies Links to the News   -  for the top stories in the news in the US this week.

All-In-One Search Page   -  a comprehensive list of over 500 Internet search tools.

Indiana University Bloomington Libraries   -  a well-organized set of links to the vast array of search tools available online news in the US this week.

tech.ease -- Desktop search software

Learning Technology Review/The Invisible Web  -  A good discussion on the difference between subject directories and search engines.

Alexa  -  travels the web with you and suggests other sites related to the one you are currently visiting. It also monitors traffic on a site, relative to other sites.

Copernic   -  lets you preselect search categories and highlights search terms in the results.

Tucows   -  provides a range of other browser "searchbots."

Focus on... Ingenta

Ingenta   -  A UK company that acquired UnCover, a database widely used by professional and academic researchers in the United States, becoming the world's largest online resource for the search and delivery of research articles.