Web Search Tools

Search Tool Example How it works Advantages Disadvantages
Search engine Google www.google.com Program that searches the Web for matches and ranks them by relevancy Retrieves many sites very quickly May retrieve millions of sites; sites may not be reviewed, edited, or verified
Metasearch engine Mamma www.mamma.com Program that sends searches to several search engines at once and compiles the results on one page Retrieves sites that a single search engine might not find May retrieve millions of sites; sites may not be reviewed, edited, or verified
Directory Librarians' Index to the Internet www.lii.org

Collection of links to Web sites that have been selected by humans and organized by subject

Sites have been reviewed and selected by people; information may be more reliable; allows browsing by broad topic; may include Web sites not found by search engines May retrieve only a few or possibly no relevant sites
 
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Last updated 01/16/2007