Getting Started: Selecting a Tool for Your Search

This page offers general guidelines to get you started on your search of the Web. It is important to think about your information need before selecting a search tool. To help you do this, the chart below lists different kinds of questions, information needs and preferences that you may have. These are organized into categories that list a sample of tools that you should try.

For more detailed guidance on selecting search tools, see How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory. This will help you select search tools based on particular features that can help you find what you want.

Query types	Examples	What to use
Your topic is general You want to view a collection of sites recommended by experts You want to browse the possibilities You want a limited number of high-quality results	I'm doing research on drug abuse	Subject directories, especially academic and professional Some general queries might be helped by the next group of options below
You want results organized into concept clusters rather than one long list of results You are doing in-depth research that includes an exploration of several subtopics You want a better understanding of the scope of your topic You are unfamiliar with your topic	I'm doing research on discrimination	Concept clustering search engines: Clusty, iBoogie, Infonetware, Query Server Search engines that offer searches on similar documents in the results list, or provide a hyperlinked list of alternative topics for retrieving related results: AltaVista,, Ask.com, Google, Ixquick
Your topic is narrow and limited in scope You are looking for specific site/fact/individual/event, etc. Your topic consists of more than one concept Your topic is obscure You are looking for a specific domain, file type, geographic location, etc.	I'm doing research on age discrimination I'm researching civil rights in Turkey I'm looking for the site of the Society of American Registered Architects I'm looking for information about Nelson Mandela from South Africa	Peer ranking search engines: Ask.com, Google General Search Engines Meta search engines: Fazzle, Ixquick, more...
You are looking for the appropriate search terms Your search terms are ambiguous	What search terms should I use to investigate my topic? How can I learn about bridge?	Thesaurus-creating search engine: SurfWax
You are looking for dynamically-changing information You are looking for very recent information You are looking for non-textual files such as software, graphics, multimedia, documents in PDF format,etc You are looking for information usually stored in a database such as a directory, phone book, etc.	I need today's stock price for Microsoft I want to search news stories from yesterday I want to see a photo of the World Trade Center I need a list of lawyers in Albany, N.Y. I want to research the laws of California on computer crime	Deep Web sources: Specialized search engines: FindSounds.com, WorldNewsNetwork, many more Search engines with specialized search offerings: AltaVista, IceRocket, many more General Search engines: keyword searches may turn up a relevant site with a searchable database Directories: keyword searches may turn up a relevant site with a searchable database