Information Literacy: Search Strategies

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need

Edited to meet the needs of Australian students by Jan Radford, Delany College, NSW, with permission.

Need additional search ideas? Try NoodleQuest (interactive version)

I need help to define my topic...

Clusty	Brainstorm topic ideas using result clusters
Social Issues	Browse hot topics and pro/con links
Google Directory	Search this subject tree enhanced by Google results

I need help to find Australian information

Webwombat	Truly Australian search engine. Links to National/ International newspapers.
Yahoo Australia	Search by topic and drill down from the general to the specific.
Google Australia	The most popular search engine in Australia. Use ‘I feel lucky’ or choose the “.au” domain in advanced search.
Sensis	Telstra’s search engine. Included are White and Yellow pages for Australia.
NineMSN	Developed by Microsoft, it is the 3^rd most popular search engine in Australia.
Search66	Australian meta search engine that searches multiple engines at the same time.
Lookle	Australian search engine with a heart – the more you search, the more they donate.
Ansearch	A new Australian search engine.
Cutural/recreational portal	An Australian government site; 4,000 sites and 2.5m pages

I need to understand the scope of my topic

Intute	Investigate annotated academic sites
INFOMINE	Browse annotated research and educational sites enhanced by second-tier “robot-selected” results
Boolify	Build your advanced search simply using Boolean operators

I need to investigate alternative or related topics

Grokker	Explore a web of your topic and subtopics (Yahoo results)
Clusty	Uncover buried sites by choosing a related cluster
Ask.com	Select “Expand Your Search”
Boolify	Build your advanced search simply using Boolean operators

I need to refine and narrow my topic

Ask.com	Select “Narrow Your Search”
Clusty	Drill down into a cluster of results
SurfWax	Click "Focus" to identify similar, broader, and narrower topics
Boolify	Build your advanced search simply using Boolean operators

I need to find quality results...

authoritative and scholarly sites chosen by a subject expert

Librarians' Internet Index	Search the selective database or drill down into the well-organized subject tree
Virtual LRC	Select a subject category, then search on term(s) or a phrase
Google Scholar	Find scholarly, peer-reviewed subject-specific results with advanced search

personal help from experts

Sources and Experts	Browse a journalist's contacts
Ask a Librarian	Get last-resort help (no homework questions)
AllExperts	Self-identified subject experts volunteer to answer questions

sites ranked or tagged as valuable or relevant

Google	High PageRank means popular, relevant sites link to the page
Technorati	Browse or search user-identified subjects (“tags”) for blog advice or opinions
Ask.com	High ExpertRank indicates subject-specific popularity

primary sources

American Memory	Locate documents, sound recordings, images, maps, and other American primary sources
Ready, 'Net, Go!	Browse worldwide archival index
Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web	Search for online exhibitions selected by Smithsonian librarians

I need to do research in a specific discipline...

government

USA Gov	Search or browse official U.S. information and services
Govt. Publications & Maps: Foreign Gov.	Browse worldwide government sites
Directgov	Search or browse official UK information and services
GovSearch	Government information in Australia

Science, engineering, technology

Scirus	Science-specific Web portals, reports, peer-reviewed articles, patents, preprints and journals
Natl. Science Digital Lib.	Science, technology, engineering and math
Intute	Science, engineering and technology hub

health and life sciences

Australian health portal	Government site
Australian Health Info	Privately owned, Information for the consumer.
Intute	Health, medicine, and life sciences hub
Fealth	Health-specific search engine and directory

law

Web Law - Australia	Subject gateway to Australian legal resources
Australian law resources	UniXL provides students, general public and businesses with high quality and relevant education and careers related resources.
FindLaw	Search U.S. cases, codes, news and commentary
LOUIS	Search Congressional documents, Federal Register, GAO reports, bills and resolutions
Intute	Limit search to “law section” for global legal information

arts and humanities

Intute	Arts and humanities hub

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy	Browse peer-reviewed, continually-updated entries on contemporary philosophy

The timeliness of information that I need is...

today

	Google News	Top news stories auto-generated every 15 minutes
	Sydney Morning Herald	Sydney Newspaper and archive
	The Age	Melbourne newspaper
NewsNow		Worldwide news auto-generated every 5 minutes
10x10		Explore machine-compiled single image composed hourly of 100 words and pictures that "matter most" on a global scale

recent

Yahoo News	One month archive with editor-created “roundups” in Full Coverage
World News Network	Click a category (below news item) to gather related news or images, select Mon-Sun to track story’s development
Google News	Click on “related” (below news item) to see story’s development
Sydney Morning Herald	Sydney Newspaper and archive
The Age	Melbourne newspaper with good in depth material

historical

American memory	Search America's primary source documents and images, browse by topic, time period, medium or place
Librarians' Internet Index	Drill down into the history section or search fewer, broader terms (e.g., “terrorists” not “Righteous Path”)
Digital History	High-quality historical resources, primary sources, multimedia, subject guides

ancient

Ancient History Sourcebook	Search online ancient-history texts, images, audio, or browse by region, period (e.g., Persia, Late Antiquity)
Librarians' Internet Index	Drill down into ancient history section or search fewer, broader terms (e.g., “Greece” not “Spartan women”)

I need facts...

a person

Biography.com	Search 25,000+ biographies by name, keyword and profession
Who2	Search for famous people with “four good links” to more information
Australian biography	Dictionary of Australian biography

a place

CIA World Factbook	Select country for basic profile and transnational issues
Country Studies	Cross-search or view a country (last update 1998) - historical, social, economic, political and national security data
Stately knowledge	Basic U.S. state facts, links to state government site and encyclopedia (IPL KidSpace)

a company

NYPL: Searching for Company Information

Find company information based on your need

general reference answers

Ask.com	Find a fact, biography, statistic or conversion, or reference answer
Columbia Encyclopedia	Find basic information
Yahoo	Learn shortcut words to get quick answers

news background (facts, people, and documents)

Intute Behind the headlines	Editor-compiled background for headline news
The Age	Melbourne newspaper with good in depth material

I need opinions and perspectives...

I want opinions on current issues

Yahoo News	Browse columnists and cartoonists, or search Opinion
HeadlineSpot Opinion/Editorials	Browse opinion/editorial in U.S. and some international newspapers
PollingReport	Browse results of U.S. public opinion surveys
Sydney Morning Herald	Opinion, editorials, blogs, cartoons
Professional Cartoon Index	Political cartoons, including list of Australians. Scroll down

I need news from other countries' perspectives

World Press Review	Get nonpartisan summaries of views outside U.S.
Newspaperindex	Browse selected world newspapers
ABYZ News Links	Browse international broadcast and Internet news, newspapers, magazines, and press agencies

I want multiple perspectives on hot social and political topics

Social Issues	Links to pro/con on current social issues
Public Agenda	Analysis of public attitudes on social issues with overview, pro/con, organization links
UN News Centre: News Focus	Browse for UN-related issues by region, country or topic

I want to compare news treatment

Newseum	Compare news reporting on U.S. front pages
PressDisplay	Compare news reporting from 55 countries

I need a specific type of media...

maps

Google maps	Search and view satellite and street-level maps (repeat in Yahoo Maps)
Google maps Australia	Search and view satellite and street-level maps for Australia
MapMachine	Search, browse and print country, physical and political maps
American factfinder maps	See trends/patterns when you superimpose chosen geographical features and census data on U.S. maps
WhereIs	A direction finder with distances and times. Telstra service.

photographs and visual images

Google Image Search	Use advanced search to limit by size, coloration, file type
Yahoo Image Search	Use advanced search to limit by size and coloration
Flickr	Search users' photos by their subjects (“tags”), then choose a subtopic ("tag cluster)
Australian images	From the National Library of Australia

fine art

Artcyclopedia	Search (e.g., artist, medium, movement, subject) or browse for digitized art and online exhibits, see actual size
Intute: Arts and Humanities	Search or browse selected, evaluated resources
SILS Art Image Browser	A database of art, architectural and museum object images from four collections

videos

Yahoo Video Search

Search by keyword or phrase, use advanced search to limit by file format, size, duration and domain

Truveo

Video-only search engine, advanced search limits by title, description, actor, director, genre, duration, quality

Internet archive:

Moving image archive

Search public domain films, newsreels, ads, documentaries, television series and other “cultural artifacts”

radio

PublicRadioFan	Find public radio programs and podcasts worldwide
Podcast.net	Search or browse podcasts

music


AltaVista Audio search	Search for MP3s and other types of music files, limiting results by file type and song duration.
Google	To find song lyrics, search (in quotes) title or performer (plus) "song lyrics," to find information about the song's history search title (in quotes) and "origin"

Sounds

FindSounds	Get sound effects and music samples: select a keyword or search a term limited by file format, quality and size
Soundsnap	Free, user-contributed sounds can be browsed or searched by category, keyword or tag

speeches

American Rhetoric	Search site or browse categories of full-text, audio and video of American public speeches, lectures, debates, interviews, events
History and Politics Out Loud	Search or browse full-text public-domain audio with transcripts of 20th century political and historical events, personalities, and protest songs
American Memory	Find sound recordings of American primary source speeches

quotations

Bartleby.com Quotations	Search classic passages, phrases and proverbs (1901 edn.)
Quotations Page	Search word, phrase, author within or across quotation collections
Quoteland	Search by keyword or browse topics, authors

statistical data

Statistical Information (NoodleTools)	Links to statistical databases and advice on locating and understanding data
Australian Bureau of statistics	Government body. For data that is not available for free, ask at an Australian public library.

dictionary or thesaurus (for definitions, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms)

Yahoo Reference	Definitions, etymology, synonyms (English and Spanish) and audio-pronunciation
Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus	Definitions, etymology, synonyms and audio-pronunciation
WordCentral	Definitions with pictures (student dictionary)

encyclopedia

Columbia Encyclopedia	Factual information (updated 6/05)
Wikipedia	Volunteer-created and collaboratively edited: valuable for current topics (e.g., people in the news), technology (e.g., podcasting) -- information quality uneven

almanac data

Country at a Glance (U.N.)	Basic country profile, use InfoNation to compare data from 6 countries
Information Please Almanac	Statistical and factual data -- beware popup minefield

books and other printed works

WorldCat	Search for books and reviews, options to refine results, check your local library's holdings
Google Scholar	Search (free and fee) scholarly works, locate related information using “cited by” links, use advanced search to limit (author, date, phrase, in title, subject area)
A9	Search for books by keyword, then "Search Inside!" to see keyword-in-context

I have special search requirements...

run my search periodically and be notified of new results

GoogleAlert	Run Google search of 3 interests and get e-mail or RSS notification of new results
Google Alerts	Run periodic Google searches and get e-mail (no RSS) notification of new results

specify a country where my search results are located

Google

Limit by domain (advanced search) or by country (Language Tools)

use a search engine outside the U.S.

Search Engine Colossus

Browse search engines and directories from countries and territories

find sites organized by the Dewey Decimal System or Library of Congress Classification

Virtual LRC	Select Dewey Decimal number before searching
INFOMINE	Drill down into Library of Congress Classification directory
BUBL LINK	Select "DeweyClass" from dropdown menu in Advanced Search

Locate resources by file type

Google	Limit search by file type (.pdf, .ps, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .rtf)
Yahoo	Limit search by file type (.html, .pdf, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .xml, .txt)

I am...

a kid

KidsClick!	Find kid-friendly sites with educational content (grades K-7) selected by librarians
Yahoo Kids	Select from kid-safe sites (grades 2- 7) organized by topic
Ask for Kids	Search by keyword, then select the best-match question for answers and links

You are pretty new to the Internet?

Google	Largest general purpose search engine
Yahoo	Large, general purpose search engine
Librarians' Internet Index	Easy-to-navigate, well-annotated directory of librarian-selected Web sites

You are an Internet wizard?

Exalead	Configure highly-specific searches including proximity ("folk tales NEAR sun"), but smaller index than Google or Yahoo
INFOMINE	Configure a narrow search of a large, comprehensive academic virtual library (Web sites, databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, directories of researchers)
JUX2	Compare results to Identify the strengths of Google, Yahoo and MSN for your search

This page was last updated by Noodletools: Friday, 2 November, 2007

‘Information literacy : Search strategies’ is produced by Debbie Abilock and Noodletools , Nueva, California.

This page more recently modified for Australian students (with permission): Monday 21 July, 2008

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