To Google or not to Google: That is the question…

Tuesday’s Tech Tip is about finding information on the web without Googling. Nothing against Google off course but other search engines can do an effective job with added features to suit your learning style. Here are a few you might want to add to your favorites bar.
 

Twurdy.com is a search engine powered by bing that offers reading levels for each of the 10 articles found on a page. The color coding makes it easy to identify basic, intermediate or advanced reading levels at a glance and the corresponding reading level is offered in the summary.

Boolify.org  is an interactive search engine also by bing and a cool way to learn how to use a Boolean search. Just click on a word puzzle piece and drag into the workspace. You can continue to add words, using (and,or & not) puzzle pieces to your searches. By choosing the URL puzzle piece and dragging it onto the workspace you can search specific domains such as .edu for education sites and .gov for government sites. Try it!

Sweet Search.com this search engine is organized by educators, librarians and research experts to return reliable information back to you. Over 100,000 hours of work went into creating Sweet Search by Dulcinea with over 35,000 approved websites. Sweet Search also offers four other search vehicles for biographies, social studies, 2 day (learn something new each day) and 4 me for emerging learners.

Off course you will need to have good search phrases or keywords for best results. Search this blog for more information on creating effective keywords and search phrases.