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        Search for Your Education Need

        Choose the Best Search for Your Education Need

        Joe

        I need to define my topic…

        I need to understand the scope of my topic

        I need to see related topics

        • Google – Uncover buried sites using “related searches”
        • Bing – Search for your topic, then drill down “related searches”

        I need to refine and narrow my topic

        • iSeek Education – Ask a question or search a topic in this database of “trusted resources” – use “targets” to refine search
        • Wikipedia – Drill down “Contents” to explore subtopics

        I need background on possible topics

        • SweetSearch – A selective search of Web information for students
        • Wikipedia – Search this wiki (quality content is starred), then follow article links to more information

        I need to find quality results…

        I need authoritative sites chosen by an expert researcher

        • LibGuides – Librarian-created topic pathfinders
        • Infotopia – Customized safe-search of educator-selected sites

        I need personal help from experts

        • Ask an ipl2 Librarian – Get answers from volunteers and grad students in a week (K-12)
        • Ask a Librarian – Library research questions answered in five days (no homework questions)

        I need sites ranked or tagged as valuable or relevant

        • Ask.com – High ExpertRank indicates subject-specific popularity

        I need primary sources

        I need to do research in a specific discipline…

        I need official government information

        • USA.gov – Search official U.S. government information and services
        • Directgov – Search or browse official UK information and services

        I need in-depth information about a country or unrepresented territory

        I need reputable health information

        • Mayo Clinic – Browse by disease or search conditions, symptoms, tests and health topics
        • KidsHealth – Health information directed to kids, teens or parents

        I need legal documents, agencies or news

        I need creative and performing arts sources

        The timeliness of information that I need is

        today

        • Google News – View top news stories and refine by category or topic
        • NewsNow – Search breaking global news headlines or newsfeeds (UK service)

        recent

        • Google – Search and limit by time period, or choose “timeline” (from “more search tools” on left) to see a topic’s evolution
        • Yahoo News – Search recent news and filter by time period (“past week”)

        recent (with analysis)

        • Times Topics – Collected news, reference and archival information, photos, graphics, audio and video files about topics
        • PolitiFact – Search news keyword or browse fact checking of statements made by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups

        long-term investigative reports

        • ProPublica – News investigations of significant government, business, and institutional wrongdoing
        • Center for Public Integrity – Original reporting of public issues designed to make “institutional power more transparent and accountable”

        a particular time period (decade, century, era)

        • HistoryWorld – Enter year event to retrieve timeline, then click on icons for information or images
        • Wikipedia: List of Timelines – Browse Wikipedia’s list of timelines (civilizations, people, events, etc.)

        historical

        • American Memory – Search America’s primary source documents and images, browse by topic, time period, medium or place
        • ipl2 – 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

        ancients

        • Ancient History Sourcebook – Search online ancient-history texts, images, audio, or browse by region, period (e.g., Persia, Late Antiquity)
        • ipl2 – Drill down into ancient history section or search fewer, broader terms (e.g., “Greece” not “Spartan women”)

        I need facts…

        a person

        a place

        • 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)

        general reference answers

        • Ask.com – Find a fact, biography, statistic or conversion, or reference answer
        • Yahoo – Learn shortcut words to get quick answers

        I need opinions and perspectives…

        I want opinions on current issues

        • PollingReport – Browse results of U.S. public opinion surveys
        • Issues & Press (U.S. Dept. of State) – Investigate U.S. position on international issues

        I need news from other countries’ perspectives

        I want multiple perspectives on hot social and political topics

        I need a specific type of media…

        maps

        • Google Maps – Search and view satellite and street-level maps
        • MapMachine – Search, browse and print country, physical and political maps

        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)

        fine art

        • Artcyclopedia – Search (e.g., artist, medium, movement, subject) or browse for digitized art and online exhibits, see actual size

        videos

        • Yahoo Video Search – Search by keyword or phrase, use advanced search to limit by file format, size, duration and domain
        • YouTube – Search for, watch or buy an ever-growing collection of TV shows, movies, music videos, documentaries, and personal productions
        • Internet Archive: Moving Image Archive – Search public domain films, newsreels, ads, documentaries, television series and other “cultural artifacts”

        radio

        music

        • 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

        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

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

        encyclopedia

        • 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

        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)

        I have special search requirements…

        run my search periodically and be notified 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.

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

        • Virtual LRC – Select Dewey Decimal number before searching

        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

        pretty new to the Internet

        • Google – Largest general purpose search engine
        • Yahoo – Large, general purpose search engine
        • ipl2 – Easy-to-navigate, well-annotated directory of librarian-selected Web sites

        an Internet wizard

        • Exalead – Configure highly-specific searches including proximity (“folk tales NEAR sun”), but smaller index than Google or Yahoo

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