50 Search Engines

Students, teachers and the public turn to their librarians for help researching everything from technology to genealogy to homework help and lesson plans. Even if your library is equipped with subscriptions and memberships to top of the line databases and online journals, you’ve probably had to get creative during a patron’s requested search for something unfamiliar. Next time, though, you can turn to one of these 50 search engines, designed to pull from the Web only the information you really need.

Meta Search and Multi Search Engines

These meta search and multi search engines can search numerous engines and sites at once, maximizing the number of results you get each time you conduct a search.

1. Ms. Freckles: Adorable Ms. Freckles can search online for different file types, definitions, translations, film, finance sites, and a lot more all at once.
2. Kart00: This cartoon-inspired search engine lets you hover over results to get a preview of the site before you open it. Results are also organized by topic so that you can narrow down your search and organize hits.
3. Fazzle: Search the web’s best, the entire web, downloads, images, videos, audio or headline news. You can also select an advanced search to find incredibly specific results.
4. Trexy: This site saves your search memory so that you don’t have search multiple times on different engines.
5. Mamma: Here at "the mother of all search engines," librarians search the web or video. Next to your results is an option to refine your search by choosing a suggested category.
6. 1-Page Multi Search: Type your search into one or several of the following search engines at once: Alta Vista, AOL, EntireWeb, Gigablast, Hot Bot, Lycos, Scrub, Yahoo!, Google, YouTube, Dogpile, Ask Jeeves, and a lot more.
7. iZito: Busy librarians who are constantly finding new reference sites and search engines will like iZito because of its ability to save your history in an easy drop down tab.

Multimedia and Interactive

For help finding pictures, podcasts, music and shareware, use these search engines.

8. Metacafe: Find videos on this site if you want a change from YouTube.
9. Songza: Patrons looking for music can use this search engine, which "lets you listen to any song or band." You can also search the featured list or top played list.
10. Picsearch: This large photo search engine has more than 2 billion images in its directory.
11. Get a Podcast: Search for podcasts all around the web in this directory.
12. Shareware: If you need to install new software programs on your library computers, turn to Shareware first, which pulls up tons of free programs and downloads.
13. Public Radio Fan: Find information for thousands of public radio stations on this site. You can find the times of different broadcasts, station names, podcasts and more.

Google Search Engines

A Google search doesn’t just mean typing in a keyword on the homepage and seeing what pops up. Try out these niche search engines sponsored by Google to find books, images and more information that librarians will find useful.

14. Google Image Search: Ask Google to bring up the most popular images on the web with this engine.
15. Google Scholar: Get connected to scholarly journals and publications here.
16. Google Books: Search online copies of books on this search engine, which features categories like literature and science fiction to biology and linguistics to highly cited to categories organized by subject and keyword.
17. Alerts: Set up Google Alerts for any subject so that you’ll get results sent to your inbox every time there’s a new site, blog or keyword mention on the web.

Great Niche Sites for Librarians

From family friendly and kid-safe searches to science and medical search engines, these niche sites can help you with very specific research projects.

18. Scirus: Pull up science-related results on this research-oriented search engine. You can find "not only journal content but also scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information."
19. Librarians’ Internet Index: Here you’ll be connected to quality, authoritative sites. Search by keyword or narrow down your search by browsing categories like business, government, media, health, computers, or the arts and humanities.
20. Family Friendly Search: Librarians at elementary and middle schools, as well as public librarians, may be interested in directing patrons to this site, which is safe for kids.
21. Intute: This British search engine lets you pick search options in the following categories for a specialized search: science and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences, and the health and life sciences.
22. PubMed: PubMed is one of the premier search engines for medical students and researchers. You can find journal articles, citations, clinical information and more.
23. Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research: On the GSU College of Law site, librarians and patrons can take advantage of this meta-index which brings up judicial opinions, legislation and more.
24. Internship Programs: College librarians may want to direct students to this search engine, which connects searchers to internship opportunities.
25. Congoo: For current events and news searches, use Congoo to connect you to the latest in technology, industry, business, world news, finance, politics, Internet trends and more.
26. CataLaw: CataLaw is another law search engine that organizes "all indexes of law and government into a uniform, universal and unique metaindex."
27. USGenWeb Archives: Help your patrons with genealogy searches with this engine.

Custom Searches

Tailor your search to your daily needs with these search engines, which can be modified by remembering search history, customizing templates and more.

29. mozbot: Pick a language and customize your search with this engine. Mozbot can also add results to your favorites, send results by e-mail, display thumbnails of different sites, and provide suggestions for similar sites.
30. Curriculum Search: Help teachers find reference materials, lesson plans and tools by searching this Google custom search engine.
31. Computer Science Research: Use this search engine or adapt it to make your own to find computer science materials and references.
32. Rollyo: Choose to search categories like health, travel, tech, reference and others using Rollyo, a system that "create[s] search engines using the sources you trust."
33. Ujiko: This sleekly designed search engine lets you choose how you want your results displayed and organized.

Reference Searches

The following list of search engines prove useful to all kinds of librarians in search of dictionaries and other reference materials.

34. JustCite: JustCite is a legal search engine and can help you find citations.
35. Online Journals Search Engine: Search scientific databases and journals here.
36. Powerset: For a basic Q&A session, use Powerset to quickly search Wikipedia entries.
37. Infoplease: Get information on any subject, from history and government to arts and entertainment to world news to biographical information to homework help.
38. Guide Star: This search tool is great for librarians who work with teachers wanting information on grants and nonprofits. Type in the name of an organization or keyword to find nonprofit group information.
39. JoeAnt: You can get answers to research queries on any subject at JoeAnt, from computers to science to politics to the humanities to business law.
40. Find Tutorials: Find tutorials for practically everything on this search site, from education to culture to spirituality, to finance to the Internet.
41. RefDesk: RefDesk is known as the "fact checker for the Internet." You can search MSN, Google, Yahoo! or Wikipedia, as well as various dictionaries and periodicals.
42. OneLook Dictionary Search: Get detailed definitions, translations and more on this search engine, which pulls from over 1,000 different dictionaries.
43. The Dictionary of Free Online Books and Shopping: Look up and access books online for free using this search engine, which includes educational books, history books, children’s books, biographies, political books and a lot more.
44. Thinkers: Wisdom: This site features a literary search engine called Wisdom that can search the web, images, audio, video, a dictionary and more.
45. Information.com: Use the web search or search encyclopedias, blogs, articles and online groups to get creative with your reference search.

Library Search Engines

Check out these search engines that are designed to emulate or are sponsored by libraries and librarians.

46. Internet Public Library: Find references, search the collections by subject, check out the reading room or KidSpace when you visit this online public library.
47. The Open Library: Here, librarians discover "one web page for every book." This open source project also features an advanced search, connecting you to the exact book and full-text publication you’re looking for.
48. Awesome Library: Find full-text books, journals, kid-safe sites, business information and more on this online library search engine.
49. LibDex: Search the indexes and other information for 18,000 different libraries here.
50. WorldCat: WorldCat helps patrons and librarians "find items in libraries near you." Search for books, DVDs, CDs and articles.

As posted in NMLIS on 1.1.11 by Srinivasa Rao G, Sr.Librarian
Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad

Electronic Publishing at Calicut Medical College, Kerala

My latest Research Paper

Electronic Publishing at Calicut Medical College, Kerala: A Case

Study of Three Open Access Journals*

Mohamed Musthafa. K

and 

Dr. Naushad Ali. PM

Dept. of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

naushadali.amu@gmail.com

Abstract

Recent developments suggest that open access has gained new momentum in the field of bio-medical research communication. Although various studies have traced the general origins of the medical sciences’ reticence to
embrace open access, few have actually considered the scholarly practices and disciplinary priorities that shape a discipline’s adoption of its principles. This article examines the emergence, potential and features of three open access medical journals published form Calicut Medical College, Kerala. The paper discusses subject coverage, periodicity, authenticity, publication charge system, indexing and abstracting, archiving and sustainability, text format, copyright policy, affiliation of contributors and content analysis. The result shows that all three journals are fully dedicated to medical sciences with research contributions from eminent scholars around the globe. Two journals do not charges for publication of article but one charge a nominal fee for submission, publication
and correction in articles. The articles are indexed and abstracted in internationally reputed secondary sources and follow reliable archival policies. 


Keywords: E-publishing, open access journals, Calicut Medical College, Kerala





* This paper will be presented in the forthcoming National conference on “Managing Libraries in New Information Environment” will be held at Asia -Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi ,o   7-8,  January, 2011

Application of ICT in Islamic Libraries in Kerala

My latest Research Paper

Application of Information and Communication Technology in Islamic Libraries in Kerala: Problems and Promises*

                                    Abstract

Information and Communication Technology is an integral part of modern libraries and library services. Islamic libraries are one of the special libraries in Kerala organized and maintained by Arabic / Islamic colleges or organizations. This paper discusses the need, scope, prerequisites and limitations of ICT application in Islamic libraries and peep into the present scenario of these libraries. It put forward some suggestions for the further development in information and communication technology application.

Key Words: Islamic Libraries, ICT, Kerala, Masjid Libraries, Wakf, Zakat Foundation

* This paper is accepted for presentation in the National Seminar on  Contemporary issues for the information professionals in a Digital Era (NASCIP 2011) will be held at INTEGRATED ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (INMANTEC), Ghaziabad on 22 January, 2011

States enacted Public Library Act.

1) Tamil Nadu – 1948
2) Andhra Pradesh - 1960
3) Karnataka - 1965
4) Maharashtra - 1967
5) West Bengal - 1979
6) Manipur - 1988
7) Kerala - 1989
8) Haryana - 1989
9) Mizoram - 1993
10)Goa - 1993
11)Gujarat - 2001
12)Orissa - 2001
13)Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal)- 2005
14)Rajasthan - 2006
15)Uttar Pradesh - 2006
16)Chattisgarh - 2007
17)Bihar - 2008
18)Arunachal Pradesh - 2009

Masjid Libraries: An Indian Initiatives

Library initiative to cover all mosques


New Delhi, Dec. 1: Every mosque in the country that has space to spare may soon have a library and a reading room.

Initiated by the Zakat Foundation of India, a Delhi based NGO, the library initiative has the support of all leading Muslim organisations, including the Jamiat Ulema, Jamaat Islami and the Milli Council.

The project has already been inaugurated in Kashmir and is scheduled to be launched in all states shortly. There are around 2 lakh mosques in the country.

Zakat foundation president Syed Zafar Mahmood said the plan was to sponsor a reading room, with a computer and books, in every mosque ready to provide space.

He said the idea of having a library in mosques was not new but simply a revival of tradition. “Mosques are supposed to be places of learning, as they were in the past. Of late, they have become synonymous with closed thinking. We want to change that perception,” he said.

The foundation has written to the heads of all mosques and to community leaders about the project. “All that the mosques will have to do is provide us some space. We will provide everything, right from providing books to Internet connection,” Mahmood said.

The library will have books for general reading as well those that are specifically religious, apart from Urdu, Hindi and English newspapers. “We want to inculcate the habit of reading among youngsters, which is lacking now,’’ he said.

Mahmood said the libraries could also double as information centres that provide data on welfare schemes for the Muslim community. If anybody was interested in having a library-cum-reading room in a mosque in his/her vicinity, all they needed to do was persuade its management and contact the foundation, he said.

The response to the library proposal had been quite encouraging, he said. “I am getting calls from as far away as Tripura and Tamil Nadu asking for details. Surely the community is changing for the better.”

The Imam Sangh, a national body of imams, sounded enthusiastic about the idea. “Mosques are usually open during the day and it would be great if the time and space can used for betterment of the community,’’ said Moulana Ilyasi of the Imam Sangh.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101202/jsp/nation/story_13248182.jsp#