Project #15 - Search Engines

There are many search engines that educators can use when researching for ideas and subject topics for their classroom instruction. This project will introduce search engines to my classmates and others that may have never heard of them before. I also want to give them more options than Google and Yahoo when fine-tuning their research.

1. ERIC - Educational Research Information Center is an online library, sponsored by the US Department of Education, used for educational research and information. It is the most widely used for research for literature topics. It contains journal articles, teaching guides, and numerous other bodies of work. You type in any subject and a list of options open. You can search for peer review only or full text. I love this site. I have used it throughout my entire academic career. I recommend it to anyone writing a research paper.

2. WebMD is the most widely used medical site for looking up accurate valuable health information that is available 24/7. There is a interactive search where you can click on a body part, input your symptoms, and it will give you a list of possible conditions. The website also contains blogs written by highly qualified physicians. I have used this website before. I really like, but I believe it is not a substitution for going to the doctor.

3. WEBCRAWLER is a directory that has links to the web, images, and video news and a search bar that you can just put a keyword in. It is very similar to Google and Yahoo (search results are by them), yet it does not contain an option for email. I felt it was average. I prefer to use Google and Yahoo.

4. DOGPILE is a one-stop shop returning all the best results from all the major search engines. It decides what results are best for your search and eliminates what they deem as dulplicates. It has a "Go Fetch! button with the search bar which is really different. It gives you tabs for images and news but all the info comes from other search engines. I say cut out the middle man and go straight to the best.

5. BING prides themselves on being the fastest and most reliable search engine. It is very similar to other search engines. It does has a running info bar at the bottom of the screen along with a search bar. It seems easier to navigate through the searches than other engines. I really liked this search engine. I would suggest using it. The graphics are awesome!

6. PubMed is a search engine, maintained by the National Institutes of Health, that is a database full of abstracts and references for life sciences and biomedical topics. The database contains full-text content and online books. You search for any topic that you may be doing research on and it will generate a full list of options. This is also a website that I have used for my entire academic career. I suggest this search engine to anyone majoring in Life Sciences.

7. MAMMA is "the mother of all search engines." Just like Dogpile and Zoo, it organizes all the top results from the leading search engines. It has the search bar with tabs for news and images, etc, but once again, it does not give you an option for email. I did find it to be more reliable than the others. It generated more websites pertaining my topic. I would recommend this search engine.

8. WOLFRAM/ALPHA is great for Math majors! The website describes itself as being the "fundamentally new way to get knowledge and answers." It is most useful for calculations and developing input to generate a report. It has a search bar with auto-fill. It answers questions by built-in data by human experts rather than generating a list of documents or web pages. It can be used for general topic searches not just for math. I truly loved this website. I will be using it for now on for all my math classes.