Search Tools

Having begun in the early 90's, following Jeeve's retirement, Ask Jeeves for Kids appeared, as "essentially a semi-structured search tool for elementary and middle school students and their teachers, students" Ask Jeeves questions about school subjects, locating articles or images, etc. A window allowed visitors to see a sample of the questions being asked, generally concisely posed. It was "powerful but uneven in pulling in results", best with simple requests like help with history facts or polygons, where it often produces a list of both information and homework help. There's also a news page and a "fun & games" page with connect-the-dots and other activities which are engaging and perhaps a meaningful way to help some special-needs children (for example with fine-motor skill deficits or test responding difficulties).
In 2009 Ask Jeeves for Kids has been replaced by Ask Kids, with a search bar and some general subject areas which might be useful to primary and middle school classroom teachers. Meanwhile, the original Ask Jeeves (in his ubiquitous tuxedo) is back, after a semi-retirement, and can be found in the UK, or

Microsoft's answer to Google, with a little help from Yahoo! (circa mid 2009)

While many people now "Google" without thinking twice (or about using the verb, to Google) Bing! claims to deliver more relevant responses to queries without the (too) dense-packed seemingly random listings. I will say this: It's pretty. Get out the popcorn as Bing! (aka Microsoft) spends billions promoting this search engine which is (increasingly) integrated, btw, into the Windows/Internet Explorer experience. (Look for more with Windows 7?) Meanwhile, for many, Google! still rules, and some are singing the praises of Google chrome too. Stay tuned.

For a Quick Search Enter Keywords

Dogpile
Now owned by Infospace, this long-popular meta-search tool combs several major engines and produces an organized and comprehensive list of results. Using a simple interface, Dogpile claims to be the easiest tool with "the best results".


Google
Very fast, with many results. Also features a "feeling lucky" option which takes you right to the page it thinks you'll like best.

Search WWW Search www.fenichel.com

HotBot
"Have you driven Inktomi lately? Very sleek and fast. Gets you where you want!" (1997). Still true, now under the stewardship of Wired. Comparable to Snap.com's Inktomi-driven engine. Hotbot no longer lists the various search engines from which they cull their list, as do some "meta" search tools.

How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory
From the University of Albany Libraries, a very nice presentation of the various search engines available for custom searching for information, specific sites or phrases, music, images, and more.

Infoseek/Ultraseek
An "intelligent" search tool with several useful features. (Now part of Go.com)


Ivy's Search Engine Resources for Kids
As the name says, some search tools oriented towards children's sites and interests. Family-friendly.

Ixquick
Now here's a search tool which found me, and I'm glad it did! Very fast and multi-lingual, now self described as "the world's most powerful meta-search engine". Try it!

This much loved search tool ceased to exist in late January 2010. :-(  
My own review follows, and a bit of the history can be found on Wikipedia.
A multi-lingual, multi-channel, multi-media search experience unlike any other! Three years in the making, this site uses a "cartographic interface" which presents search results in colorful spatial style, almost resembling a space map, and sure to appeal to right-brain processors and those who want to interact more directly with an intuitive, incredible, and very cool search tool.
[Mozilla review: "Until KartOO shut down in late January 2010, it was the best search engine--actually meta-search engine--available in the English language and possibly the world."]


LYCOS Search Engine
One of the (still barely) independent search engines, this is the competition for Alta Vista. Check this out after you've gone through Yahoo! and Alta Vista. "OK engine, but it's translation feature (entire sites) is the best". (8/2000)

Meta Crawler with Java
"Quick and pretty" (1997). Still true a dozen years later. Now part of Infospace (as is Dogpile, MetaCrawler, and WebFetch - circa 2009) this remains one of the true meta-search engines, "searching the search engines" and displaying a list of results, annotated with the source.

Search.com
Oops. I blinked. What was Savvy-Search apparently is no more. Now a smooth metasearch engine run by our portal friends at C|Net. Seems ok so far.... (and getting better in 2001)

Search Engine Watch
Industry-standard reference for what is happening in the land of the search engine market.

Snap.com
After earlier incarnations of being "powered by Inktomi" and Global Brain, then swallowed up by by NBCi "powered by Dogpile", Snap.com re-emerged in 10/2004 as a very different site, with a new look and feel. " 'It's going to be controversial, but it's awesome,' proclaimed founder Bill Gross.... Visit the site, and below the standard blank search box is a list of the Web's most popular search destinations, by number of searches: eBay, Google, Yahoo and so on. Start typing something in, however, and the menu morphs with each keystroke (think of the global directory in your office e-mail), continually narrowing itself until one search term—the one you've typed in—remains. Hit enter and get your results." - Fortune.com, May 4, 2005

Teaching Tools
Here's a directory of exceptional online resources for K-12 classroom teachers and school-based educational and mental health professionals. Lesson plans, virtual field trips, inter-school competitions, Internet libraries, museums and more. Fascinating adventures for both teachers and learners. (Fenichel)

Teoma.com
A cross between a 3-dimensional artificial intellence model (like KartOO) and the more traditional, linear text and list.(2001) Update: 2/2006 saw Teoma become subsumed under the Ask search tool, formerly Ask Jeeves; the butler has now been retired. [3/07] The form below now leads to Ask.com .

Yahoo!