CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: CAN'T FIND IT? START THE NEW YEAR WITH A HELPFUL SEARCH ENGINE (COLUMN 119)

Searching for a good time? How about the Internet search engines.

OK, here's the truth. Not all search engines are really search engines. Some are called directories or subject guides, such as our favorite Yahoo.

But all these sites can provide a doorway to the vast information on the Internet.

Joni: Vast is an understatement. Thousands of new sites go online every day, making finding that one piece of information or even that one World Wide Web site all the more difficult.

Peggy: As much as I hate to admit it there are times when you need to use a search engine.

Joni: Search engines work in different ways. This may be a good time to actually read the fine print. The search engines work in different ways. Some require the person or company who designed the site to submit key words. Others send out "spiders" to search the web for all words.

Peggy: Today we're going to take a look at some of the newer search engines like Northern Light.

www.northernlight.com

Joni: Here's a tip. You need to use the words "and, or and not" on some sites. This allows you to narrow down your search using these phrase. If you want to search for dolphins but not the NFL, using the word "not" can accomplish this.

Peggy: Northern Light also offers custom search folders. If you search for something, it offers you other categories where you might find similar information.

Joni: In addition to web pages, you can search special collections magazines, journals, data bases and news sources in concert with Barnes and Noble. This service carries a fee.

Peggy: Here's another new one, called Mamma, the Mother of All Search Engines.

Joni: No problem with ego here. You can find it at

www.mamma.com

Peggy: Mamma offers simultaneous searches of several other search engines at the same time. That's how it works, querying other search engines.

Joni: The searches aren't case sensitive and you can use + or - signs to fine tune your choice.

Peggy: They also suggest choosing words carefully and be as specific as possible.

Joni: You can also search by phrase, which is a good way to look for a particular name. You can also hunt for pictures and sounds.

Peggy: There are hundreds of search engines. We just saw an ad guaranteeing to list your site listed in at least 600 search engines.

Joni: It seems that surfers find their favorite search and stick with it. But it's not a bad idea to look around occasionally to see what's new and different.

Peggy: There are many, many other new search engines such as Google, Galaxy, Thunderstone and DirectHit. There's also Eureka, which searches other search engines.

Joni: So there are search engines of search engines. Even still, probably the more popular ones include Yahoo, HotBot, Alta Vista, Web Crawler and Excite.

Peggy: Here's a search engine for the rebel with a cause. It's an inch wide and a mile deep. It's called Disinformation.

www.disinfo.com

Joni: It focuses on current events, politics, new science and propaganda. Primarily it draws from news sources like Hot Wired, CNN, Time magazine.

Peggy: They call themselves the subculture search engine and have categories like newspeak and censorship, revolutionaries and counterculture.

Joni: Very interesting. I have to take a look at Google. It's been getting great reviews.

www.google.com

Peggy: This site claims to use a complicated mathematical analysis to return the right web page.

Joni: Google makes you feel lucky. They claim to be so good that you can press the "I feel Lucky" button and just get the first response.

Peggy: It started as a research project at Stanford University and grew from there. They have indexed about 60 million web pages and add more every day.

Joni: PC Magazine's Top 100 Web sites for December include five search engines. They are Google, Northern Light, AltaVista, HotBot and MetaCrawler. Let's go to MetaCrawler first.

www.metacrawler.com

Peggy: This is one of those "let's search the search engines" search engines. You can also get to Meta Spy to see what other people are search for.

Joni: Oh, I like that, spying on other people. You find it down at the very bottom of the MetaCrawler page or go there directly at

www.metaspy.com

Peggy: You can get a glimpse of the searches taking place at this very moment. Hmm. Here's a search for Jockey underwear. You can choose to search unfiltered or filtered. Be warned, the unfiltered searches may be adult in nature.

Joni: In fact, all search engines have to potential to point you to adult sites. Keep that in mind when you search.

Peggy: Here's a MiniCrawler, a tiny window that sits on your desk top. It has room just for your search topic, no bells, no whistles. But it's ready for a search at a moment's notice.

Joni: Another of the top search engines is HotBot.

www.hotbot.com

It's been around for a while and has lots of special features. You can search a specified date range or you can search in specific areas like sports and entertainment. HotBot also offers lots of versatility.

Peggy: You can also require that search results include video, audio, or java. You can tell it to return 10 to 100 matches and to use full descriptions, brief descriptions or just the URL.

Joni: Perhaps one of the better known search engines is Alta Vista, which has been around a while. It received a face lift last fall. Alta Vista powers a lot of other search sites, including Yahoo.

www.av.com

Peggy: It has some neat features including a photo finder and a family filter to help keep your searching clean. You can find lots of tools and gadgets. The number one gadget is translation service. English to French, English to German, German to English -- you get the picture.

Joni: They also link to lots of calculators and quizzes on the Net.

Peggy: What's your favorite search site? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

~Peggy Scott and Joni Adams are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.