How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory

Fields
If you want to search for...	Choose...
Audio/Music	akoo.com \| AltaVista \| iAtlas \| CNET MP3 Search \| FAST Multimedia Search \| FindSounds.com \| FtpFind \| Genie Knows \| GO.com \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos MP3 Search \| Lycos RichMedia Search \| ProFusion MP3 \| Real - Snap \| SavvySearch MP3
Date last modified	AltaVista Advanced Search \| AltaVista Power Search \| GO.com (sort function) \| Hotbot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| iAtlas \| Northern Light Power Search \| Raging Search (Advanced Search)
Domain/Site/URL	AltaVista \| AltaVista Power Search \| Amnesi \| Clickey \| FAST Search Advanced Search \| HotBot SuperSearch \| GO.com \| iAtlas \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos Pro \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| Namedroppers.com \| NBCi Power Search \| Northern Light \| Northern Light Power Search \| Raging Search \| SearchEdu.com \|
Geographic location	AltaVista Power Search \| Fossick \| HotBot SuperSearch \| iAtlas \| MetaCrawler Power Search \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| Northern Light Geosearch \| Northern Light Power Search
Images	AltaVista \| The Amazing Picture Machine \| AMICO Thumbnail Catalog \| Corbis \| Ditto \| Excite Precision Search \| FAST Multimedia Search \| FtpFind \| Genie Knows \| GO.com \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| iAtlas \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos RichMedia Search \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| NBCi Picture Finder \| Raging Search \| Savvy Search \| Scour.Net \| Yahoo! News Image Gallery
Language	AltaVista \| AltaVista Power Search \| Excite \| FAST Search Advanced Search \| Google \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos Advanced Search \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| Northern Light Power Search
Multimedia & video	akoo.com \| AltaVista \| Excite Precision Search \| FAST Multimedia Search \| FtpFind \| Genie Knows \| GO.com \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| iAtlas \| Lycos RichMedia Search \| Scour.Net \| Snoopa \| StreamSearch
Programming Language	HotBot SuperSearch \| iAtlas \| NBCi Power Search
Proper name	AltaVista \| GO.com \| Excite \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Yahoo! Search Options
Title	AltaVista \| AltaVista Power Search \| FAST Search Advanced Search \| Fossick \| GO.com \| HotBot \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos Pro \| Mamma \| MetaBug \| NBCi Power Search \| Northern Light \| Northern Light Power Search \| Raging Search
Search logic
If you want to use...	Choose...
Boolean operators	AltaVista Advanced Search \| C4 \| Dogpile \| Excite \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos Pro \| NBCi Power Search Northern Light \| ProFusion \| Raging Search (Advanced Search) \| WebCrawler
Full Boolean logic with parentheses e.g., behavior and (cats or felines)	AltaVista Advanced Search \| C4 \| Excite \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos Pro \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| NBCi Power Search Northern Light \| Raging Search (Advanced Search) \|
Implied Boolean +/-	Most search engines offer this option
Boolean logic by template terminology	AltaVista Power Search \| AOL.COM Search Options \| Excite Power Search \| FAST Search Advanced Search \| Fossick \| GO.com Power Search \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos Pro \| MetaBug \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| NBCi Power Search \| SavvySearch \| Snoopa
Proximity searching	AltaVista Advanced Search \| Google [by default] \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Raging Search (Advanced Search)
Search options
If you want...	Choose...
Alternative search terms	Direct Hit \| Excite \| Oingo \| SimpliFind \| SurfWax
A user fill-in template	Excite Power Search \| GO.com Advanced Search \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos Pro \| MetaBug \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| NBCi Power Search \| Snoopa
Case sensitivity	AltaVista \| GO.com \| Ixquick Metasearch
Search within existing results	AltaVista \| Excite \| GO.com \| GO.com Advanced Search \| Google \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos \| SurfWax
Search for documents similar to those in existing results	FindSame \| Google \| Raging Search
Search on related search terms	Direct Hit \| HotBot \| Lycos
Truncation	AltaVista \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Lycos \| Northern Light \| Northern Light Power Search \| Raging Search
Automatic truncation	Excite \| GO.com \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos \| Northern Light \| Northern Light Power Search
Your search stated in plain English	AltaVista \| Ask Jeeves \| Fossick \| Ixquick Metasearch
Translation of pages retrieved as search results, or any text or Web page, to and from selected languages	AltaVista Text & page translators: Babel Fish \| GO Translator
An exact phrase within quotations	Most search engines offer this option
Most phrases within quotations (i.e., phrases with stop words have special requirements)	Google \| Lycos \| MSN Search
An exact phrase from a template choice	Excite Power Search \| FAST Search Advanced Search \| Fossick \| GO.com Advanced Search \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| MetaBug \| MSN Search Advanced Search \| NBCi Power Search \| Yahoo! Search Options
Search Results
If you want...	Choose...
Concept processing applied to your search	Ask Jeeves \| Northern Light \| Oingo \| SimpliFind \| SurfWax \| Vivisimo
Results grouped by concept and/or type of site	Inference Find \| Northern Light \| Vivisimo
Results as a series of questions to help locate the relevant site(s)	Ask Jeeves
Results based on linking, i.e., number of links from highly rated Web pages	Excite Precision Search \| Google \| Google Web Directory \| Raging Search \| TopClick
Results based on popularity, i.e., selections by other searchers or rankings by engines/directories	AOL.COM Search \| Direct Hit \| Ixquick Metasearch
Clustering of results into one hit per site with the option to see all	AltaVista \| GO.com \| GO.com Advanced Search \| HotBot \| HotBot SuperSearch \| Lycos \| Lycos Pro \| Northern Light
Queries stored at the site and notification of new results	The Informant \| Karnak \| TracerLock
Database Quality, Size, and Type
If you want to search...	Choose...
The invisible Web (not covered by search spiders)	The BigHub.com \| Direct Search \| The InvisibleWeb \| Lycos Directory: Searchable Databases \| MetaIQ \| Search.Com \| Search Engines and News \| Subject Directory of Search Engines \| WebData
Multiple search engines simultaneously with duplicate records removed	Chubba \| C4 \| Fossick Meta Search \| Inference Find \| Ixquick Metasearch \| Mamma \| MetaCrawler \| METAEUREKA \| ProFusion \| Savvy Search \| SurfWax \| more...
Usenet newsgroups	Chubba \| Deja.com \| HotBot Usenet \| MetaCrawler \| ProFusion UseNet \| Yahoo! Search Options
A small but evaluated subject directory	Argus Clearinghouse \| BUBL Link \| Britannica \| INFOMINE \| Librarians' Index to the Internet \| Scout Report Signpost \| WWW Virtual Library \| more...
A large but generally unevaluated subject directory	Yahoo!

Library Webmaster
Paul Meek Library
University of Tennessee at Martin
Martin, TN 38238