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Search engines locate websites that include the keywords you enter. The sites identified by search engines have not been specially selected or reviewed, so the quality and authority of sites found will vary widely. Search engines are most useful in finding information on narrow, specific, or obscure topics. A web directory will usually provide a higher quality list of sites when dealing with a fairly broad topic. Many of these search engines claim to be the "most comprehensive" or to retrieve the "most relevant results." The truth of the matter is that they all overlap considerably, but they each also contain unique indexes and search features. You may need to use several search engines to find what you need. Searching techniques vary among Internet search engines. Most of them offer something in the way of Boolean operators, phrase searching, nesting, and truncation, but the methods will be a little different in each. Some offer highly advanced searching techniques such as domain limitations or image retrieval. For more detailed information on searching the Web, please see Internet Searching: Tools, Tricks & Evaluation. Please check How Do I...? or ask at the Research Assistance Desk if you need assistance with Web search engines.
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