Search Engines

Individual Engines

Individual Search Engines are "regular" search engines. They use "spiders" to traverse the internet. These spiders are computer programs that travel around the internet, going from link to link, and writing down every word on every page. So when you do a search for, say, "mercury," the search engine will list every page that has the word "mercury" somewhere on it. But it won't know whether you're talking about a mineral, a planet, a character from roman mythology or a type of car -- so make your search as specific as possible.

Directories

A directory is another way of finding information on the internet. While search engines automatically search through text, directories are collections of links organized by subject. Since this is done by people who actually look at the site, the results will often be much more relevant; i.e. what you're looking for. But you won't get as many results.

Meta Searches

Meta Search Engines are search engines that search search engines. What?! Instead of just going out and searching for pages, meta search engines ask other search engines for their results. Then the meta search engine compares the results from the individual search engines. The meta search engine then sorts the results from all the search engines, and the links it thinks are best are placed at the top.

"The Internet may be the world's greatest library, but let's face it - all the books are scattered on the floor." D.C. Denison