You can use any one of a number of search engines to find information on the web, including (note: all links open a new browser window):

Alta Vista	All the Web	Lycos
Google	Northern Light	iWon
Yahoo	Go (Infoseek)	WebCrawler
HotBot	NBCi	Excite

Given the number of search engines, and the number of "hits" each one yields, it's well worth your time to do a little homework first:

• Search Engine Showdown provides an excellent analysis of many of these sites, including a comparison by search features and specific reviews of each site.

• Search Engine Watch also provides a series of useful reviews and tips on searching the web. According to reviews, Google, MSN Search, and Yahoo were among the most highly rated Fall 2000; MSN and Yahoo are the most popular as of July 2001.

As you can see by reading the reviews, each search engine has its own strengths and weakness; often it pays to try several different search engines as you look for information.

Exercise 8: Search Engine Comparison: Using your search terms, briefly compare the first 8 results from 3 different search engines. Do the links overlap? Do links appear in the same order? Which engine seems to the most useful? Why?

Evalutating Web Sites-->