Evaluation of Internet Searching and Search Engines

The Internet is a vast sea of information and garbage - how do you discriminate? Below are listed some valuable sources of insight into discerning the gems from the junk.

There are 2 sections to evaluation: the first, How to Search and/or Evaluate Resources, describes the evaluation of sources of information you will find when you are searching, while the second section, Evaluations & Ratings of Engines, describes and compares the actual engines themselves. One thing to do as you use the search engines, read the instructions for each search engine, it will save you time and energy!

1. How to Search and/or Evaluate Resources

Criteria for Evaluation of Internet Information Resources A toolbox of criteria to measure web resources.
CyberSkeptic's Guide to Internet Research

Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other PeriodicalsFrom Cornell University Library.

Evaluating Internet Information - Web Sites to Analyze This site is divided into four categories: web sites to analyze, journal articles and other resources, bibliographies, and bogus web sites. The bogus web sites can be used to show how appealing and realistic a lot of misinformation can look.
Evaluating Quality on the NetBy Hope N. Tillman.
Evaluating Web Pages: Links to Examples of Various Concepts
Evaluating Web Resources Includes checklists and teaching materials.
Evaluating Web Sites for Educational Uses: Bibliography & Checklist Links to even more articles on evaluation compiled by Carolyn Kotas.
Evaluating What You Have Found In PDF format, from the University of Waterloo Library.
Evaluation of Information Sources This page contains pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet.
Expert Searching: A Guide to Developing Your Search Skills

Hints For Effective Searching
How to Critically Analyze Information Sources Cornell University Library.
How To Evaluate a Web PageFrom Colorado State University.

Information Quality on the Internet
Information Quality WWW Virtual LibraryThe Internet guide to construction of quality online resources.
Internet searching tips Netskills tip sheets from the UK.

Literature about search services An extensive list of other evaluations, mostly hyperlinked.

META Tagging for Search Engines Describes how META tags affect the various search engines.

Practical Steps in Evaluating Internet Resources

Scott Nicholson's WWW Search Engine Selection Tool Includes an orientation and an in-depth web searching tutorial.
Scout Toolkit The Toolkit is designed to help new users identify the network tools they need.
Search Engine Showdown By Greg Notess, the users' guide to Web searching, compares and evaluates Internet search engines from the searcher's perspective.
Search Engine Watch A comprehensive site: how to search; facts; search engine status reports; tutorials, etc.
Special Search Engines This is a collection of links to special search engines, which in a number of cases can be used as an alternative for the big search engines like Hotbot, AltaVista, Excite and Infoseek. Most of them are discipline- or subject-specific, others are (collections of) national or regional search engines. Pretty impressive list of links.
Spider's Apprentice: How to Use Web Search Engines Very comprehensive review by Linda Barlow.

Teaching Critical Evaluation Skills for WWW Resources
Testing the Surf: Criteria for Evaluating Internet Information Resources This refereed article by Alistair G. Smith which reviews criteria published in the print literature & on the Internet, presents an extensive "toolbox" of criteria to evaluate Internet information resources. It is noted that many of the criteria considered important by librarians are not used by some popular evaluative sites. From PACS Review Vol. 8 No. 3 1997.
Thinking Critically about Discipline-Based World Wide Web Resources by Esther Grassian, UCLA College Library.
Thinking Critically About WWW Resources by Esther Grassian, UCLA.
Tutorial: Guide to effective searching of the web This is a good site for those who like to study how to search the web.
Web Page Evaluation WorksheetBy Nancy Everhart at Duke. You give points for currency, content, authority, navigation, experience multimedia, treatment, access, etc.
What's Wrong With Internet SearchingBy Annabel Pollock & Andrew Hockley, from D-Lib Magazine March 1997. This paper argues that the model of searching for information on the Web as used by many existing search engines does not meet the needs of Internet-naive (but PC-literate) users.

Yahoo's Index to Searching the WebYahoo's list of articles about various search engines.

2. Evaluations and Ratings of Engines

Advanced Searching: Tricks of the Trade This article evaluates Alta Vista, InfoSeek, Lycos and Open Text.

Choose the Best Engine for Your Purpose

How to search the Web A guide to search tools.

Matrix of Internet Catalogs & Search Engines This site gives information on and evaluates the various catalogues & search engines. Excellent assessments. Gives a tabular assessment of search engines.

Search Engine Features Links
Search Engine Review for Development Researchers
Search Engine Reviews
Search Engine Showdown
Search Engine Watch
The Search Page A directory of 220+ hyperlinks about searching.
Signal Detection Analysis of WWW Search Engines A comparative analysis of Alta Vista, Excite, InfoSeek and Lycos.

Understanding & Comparing Web Search Tools
UCB Library Internet Search Tool Details November 1995.

Web Search Tool Features