No one really knows how many Web pages exist in cyberspace today. A billion, some guess, but the number keeps growing exponentially.
What is for certain is how increasingly difficult it has become to quickly find the best information online. The big search engines do the best they can, but frankly, their aim of cataloging everything on the Web is a lost cause. Even when a general search engine does catalog everything about a topic, it can be overwhelming.
For example, if you use one of the major, all-inclusive search engines to search for information about Abraham Lincoln, you’re likely to get a long list of sites that range from academic papers on the life and times of the president to online term papers from 6th-graders. The latter may be amusing but not particularly helpful if you’re looking for in-depth information.
If you’re serious about finding the best information about any topic online, eventually you’ll want to go beyond the major search engines to the specialized search engines that point users in the direction of only the very best information.
Using specialized search engines will save you time, since they focus on specific subjects. Thus, the results of your search will likely result in a shorter list. More important, these specialized search engines are often chosen manually by real people, rather than by a computer that searches everything on the Web.
Many of these special search engines get additional help on which sites they should include from user submissions. This “people helping people” method may be the best way to help people find the sites they’re looking for.
But how do you find specialized search engines? You go to sites that compile lists of both general and specific search engines. They are, in effect, search engines for search engines.
Begin your quest for specialized search engines at one of these sites.
InvisibleWeb.com (www.invisibleweb.com) says it has cataloged a list of searchable information resources where the contents can’t be found by traditional search engines. Many of the search engines listed by InvisibleWeb.com point to databases rather than static Web pages, making this site especially valuable for serious researchers.
SearchEngineGuide.com (http://searchengineguide.com) indexes more than 2,000 search engines divided into subject directories. Each entry offers a brief summary of what you’ll find on the search engine.
PRACTICALLY NUTRITIOUS
WWW.NUTRITION.GOV
Nutrition.gov is a compilation of all federal government information about nutrition. Research shows that weight loss is a major concern for most Americans. Meanwhile, poor nutrition, obesity and lack of physical activity are major health problems. This site provides scientific information on nutrition and dietary guidelines gathered from several government sources.
———-
E-mail tribtech@tribune.com
