WP2-Search_Engines

Developed by TESOL Technology Advisory Committee (TAC)
 * White Paper on Technology**


 * Topic:** Using Search Engines

__URLs :__
Google: [|http://www.google.com] Yahoo:[| http://www.yahoo.com] Ask: [|http://www.ask.com] All the Web: [|http://www.alltheweb.com] HotBot: [|http://www.hotbot.com] Clusty: http://clusty.com/ Kartoo: http://www.kartoo.com/ Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com.mx/schhp?tab=ws
 * Common Search Engines:**

__Why this topic is relevant to ESOL Professionals:__
Since more and more information is being stored on the WWW every day, a clear knowledge of how to located it simplifies a professional's life.

__Why you need this information:__
Everyone thinks they know how to use Google, but really knowing how to limit the displayed links can save time and help the searcher find the needed information. Also, knowledge of specialized search engines can turn up additional, often more relevant, sites.

__How to get started:__
Check out these sites: //Search Engine Glossary://[| http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156001] This site gives a good summary of all those esoteric terms you often find in more technical articles on search engines. //Search Engine Math:// http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2156021 This site gives you some simple “mathematical” hints to make your searches more efficient. //How do I find what I'm looking for with a Google search?// http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=504&topic=352 This Google site gives you some hints for making Google searches more efficient. //A fun activity:// Visit Bernie Dodge's [|Four NETS for Better Searching] (http://webquest.sdsu.edu/searching/fournets.htm ). Read the explanation on the left side of the screen and, using the advanced search function at Google, do the activity on the right. //Interesting article// : Language Learning & Technology Journal, On the Net: You've Got some GALL: Google-Assisted Language Learning http://llt.msu.edu/vol12num1/net/default.html (Added by CWD) This website The Major Search Engines from SearchEngineWatch.com has a fairly exhaustive list of popular search engines with a brief description of each. Choose two or more and search for the same topic on each engine. [|The Major Search Engines] : http://searchenginewatch.com/links/major.html Try it out: Choose a subject you’re interested in like: //Lizzie Borden//, //clocks, Brad Pitt, TESOL, Communication, etc.// Compare the results. Some are better than others. Some people like one, other people like others. Here are some additional search engines you might find useful. //Clusty:// http://clusty.com/ “Clusty queries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom. “But what really makes Clusty unique is what happens after you search. Instead of delivering millions of search results in one long list, our search engine groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items. When was the last time you went to the third or fourth page of the search results? Rather than scrolling through page after page, the clusters help you find results you may have missed or that were buried deep in the ranked list. “ (From the website) //Kartoo:// http://www.kartoo.com/ Great for visual learners. “KartOO is a metasearch engine with visual display interfaces. When you click on OK, KartOO launches the query to a set of search engines, gathers the results, compiles them and represents them in a series of interactive maps through a proprietary algorithm .”(From the website) //Google Scholar:// http://scholar.google.com.mx/schhp?tab=ws “Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research. “(From the website)
 * (1) Introduction:**
 * (2) Using Google and other search engines efficiently.**
 * (3) Choosing a Search Engine.**
 * (4) Other Search Engines:**