ICONS Americas: Search Engines and Other Web Research Tools
Search Engines
General Web Directories
Social Science Web Directories
Search Engines
In general, search engines use automated "robots" to seek out and categorize web
sites. When you conduct a search, the engine matches your request with the entries
in its database. Differences in perfomance among the various search engines depend
upon how extensive its database is, how often it is updated, and how it decides which
entries are the most relevant.
Many search engines now have commercial partners and are paired with other functions on "portal sites", which provide web directories and access to services like news, stock quotes, and shopping. For help in learning how best to construct your web searches, see Rice University's Internet Searching Strategies or Web Tools' Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet. For complicated seaches, be sure to review your chosen engine's preferred search syntax. (Most engines have a "Help" link featured very prominently.)
The American Library Association has published a very helpful guide to web search engines, and the Kansas City Public Library has a good review of several of the most widely-used ones. As a starting point, you might want to try the following:
AltaVista
Excite
Google! (Gives very relevant results.
Highly recommended.)
Hotbot
"Meta-search" services allow you to simultaneously search a number of other search engines. Meta-search tools do not allow searches as complicated as the stand-alone engines, but are a good starting point, particularly for more obscure topics.
General Web Directories
Web directories differ from search engines in that the information is
gathered and categorized by humans, either by submission from web page
authors or by searches conducted by experts in the field.
About.com. Professional expert guides "mine" the web for relevant resources on a wide variety of topics.
Yahoo! The most widely used web resource.
Social Science Web Directories
EiNet Galaxy Government
Links Submitted resources are reviewed by an information specialist
before inclusion in the index.
International Affairs Resources Part of the WWW Virtual Library.
Social Sciences Virtual Library A compilation of web resources related to the social sciences, maintained by volunteer experts in the field.
Social Science Information Gateway "SOSIG is an online catalogue of thousands of high quality Internet resources relevant to social science education and research. Every resource has been selected and described by a librarian or subject specialist."
Study Web A catalogue of web resources put together by educators. Entries are categorized according to approximate appropriate grade level.
Scenario | Simulation
Center | Research Center | Team
Resources |
Faculty Resources | Questionnaires
| Project ICONS
© 2001, ICONS Project
Department of Government & Politics
University of Maryland
icons@gvpt.umd.edu
http://www.icons.umd.edu/americas/rescent/search.htm
Last modified: February 5, 2001