In this guide we will study Meta Search Engines

META SEARCH ENGINES

There are also Meta search engines. These are 'Helpers' that send our request to various search engines in the web and then bring a summary of the information they found.

Although they are fast in the sense that you are consulting many search engines at the same time, they can be slower in presenting the results.They have a common interface that allows using the other search engines, but doesn't allow using the particular search options of each search engine.

Some of them are

  DogPile

  MetaCrawler

  c|net Search.com

They are very useful for showing what the Web has to offer about one specific subject.

Activity I

1 - Connect to the Internet

2 - Open the following website www.learnthenet.com

This is a very useful page to learn to use the Internet.

3 - Add the page to your favorites.

4 - Find information on the Search Engines on the Internet..

TIPS FOR SEARCH ENGINES

What usually happens is this. Every search engine finds some excellent sites that none of the others find. To make the best search you have to use various engines.

There isn't any search engine better than another, since that depends on every search. Search engines are also more powerful everyday.

To begin with, we reccmmend Google and Yahoo!, and MetaCrawler as a Meta Search Engine.

• Experiment. Try various engines.

• Find out which system the search engines uses to show the results and if it is compatible with our search
  
• Know at least two search engines well.
  
• Try to be as specific in your search as possible.
  
• Be careful with word order. It is very important in some search engines. Write the most important words first.
  
• Make the search term have as many specific words as you can, to give the search engine the possibility of understanding your request. If you are not succesful, try simplifying terms.

• Write phrases between inverted comas
  
  
• If the search engine returns too many results and what we're looking for doesn't appear between the first 10 or 20 'hits' (links suggested by the search engine), change the request (word order, synonims, etc...). Don't waste time going through all the results.
  
  
• Keep the search within a certain language (where available as an option)

Activity II

1 - Choose a specific subject you would like to investigate.

2 - Write down a list of words related to that topic.

3 - Write down some search terms that seem suitable to you (on paper).

4 - Write down some advances search terms that seem suitable to you. Remember that this depends on the search engine you are using.

5 - Start your search with a search engine of your choice.

6 - Pay attention to the steps followed during the search (including the terms you used) to learn how search engines behave.