1. Key Topic is about… Subject Directory – Web Directory or Search Directory Main Idea Subject Index- Web Index or Search Engine Specialized/Subscription Database – “Invisible Web” Meta Search Engine- Meta-Searcher So what? (What’s important to understand about this?) -See Slide 2 Main Idea FRAME Directories relate to a specific subject They provide short descriptions of websites. They are a good place to start a general search. Directories survey what is available on a broad topic. Examples: Indexes contain millions of web pages. No one index covers all the web. Start here when your search is specific or well-defined. Every word on the sites page is stored in an index. Examples: Databases are good sources for answering specific questions. Most require a password to access the information. School databases contain quality information that need no formal evaluation These credible sources provide MLA citations for a works cited page. Examples: Searches multiple sources. They are a quick & easy way to expand your search. Groups together search results like a table of contents They work best for specific multi word searches. Examples: -Search Tools Prepared by S. Crowther -Choosing the best Internet resource tool to find the information you need This allows you to find rather obscure information, but also makes it harder to get good results for many searches. Sends your search words to many different search tools and brings back one set of results.

2. What’s Important to understand… “If you want to drive a nail into a piece of wood, you reach for a hammer, rather than a screwdriver. Use the right tool, and you'll get the right results. The same is true with search engines... Like a Swiss Army Knife, general purpose search engines often can do many different jobs. Nevertheless, your results might be better if you turn to a subject specific tool.” Danny Sullivan, editor, SearchEngineWatch.com

3. Examples of Various Search Tools: Subject Directories Subject Indexes or Search Engines Specialized or Subscription Databases Meta – Search Engines Librarians Internet Index GoogleCCHS DatabasesClusty IntuteYahooChicopee CLICIx quick The World Wide Web Virtual Library BingFamily SearchDogpile GoGuidesAskInternet Movie Database Mamma Google DirectoryDuck Duck GoAll MusicKartOO Best of the Web Directory KosmixLibrary of Congress Zuula