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Searching the Web
Some Popular Search Engines and Best Uses

Search Engine Name	Address	Uses
Google	http://www.google.com	General Search Engine with highly rated search relevance marks
Alta Vista	http://www.altavista.com/	Good for non-indexed items- personal names, snippets of info, mailing list traffic, etc.
Yahoo	http://www.yahoo.com/	One of busiest search engines, with large volume of indexes
Yahooligans	http://www.yahooligans.com/	A "kid safe" version of Yahoo. Also a kid oriented Portal
ixquick	http://www.ixquick.com/	Meta Search Engine (gather results from many web search engines by using one single search)
Dogpile	http://www.dogpile.com	Meta Search Engine (gather results from many web search engines by using one single search)
Ask Jeeves	http://www.askjeeves.com/	"Plain Language Inquiries" a semi-meta search engine
Ask Jeeves for Kids	http://www.ajkids.com/	A "kid safe" version of Ask Jeeves. Also a kid oriented Portal
Open Directory	http://www.dmoz.org/	Very dependent on individual web page authors submitting information to be listed
... Various Specialized	http://searchenginewatch.com/links/ Specialty_Search_Engines/	A listing of some specialty search engines

A few Key Pieces of Information About Searching and Search Engines

Search Engines are a Business (they usually are attempting to make a profit through advertising, memberships, sponsorship and/or as part of a Portal).
Search Engines are constantly changing- new ones arrive, old ones disappear, features change, searching rules change, databases change. So the one that is right for you today maybe different tomorrow
Try a few different search engines with the same look-up word(s) and compare the different sites found to get an idea of what can best serve your needs.
"Kid Safe" sites, although having less information, eliminate most objectionable nonrelavent sites and may be a better choice for younger children.
Remember just because you can find it on the web, it may not be accurate or factual. Help your children learn how to evaluate author(s), source, validity, relevance and timeliness . Use of professional librarian or media specialists guided sources such as Info-Ohio, On-Line Encycopedias, etc. can help assure validity.

For information on Search Engines, tips on searching and probably more information than you ever wanted to know about "the business" of searching (who gets listed first when you search) visit-
http://www.searchengines.com/searchBasics1.html or http://www.searchenginewatch.com/