Search Engines Explained

From its inception the Internet has posed to its users the problem of how to get the information they need from a large network of interconnected computers. If you know which particular Web site has your information and you know its URL (see the definitions section of "What Technologies?" for a definition of "URL), it is simply a matter of typing it into the address bar at the top of your Web browser. But much, if not most, of the time you will be looking for specific information without knowing which particular Web site has that information. In such cases even a huge directory listing every Web site that currently exists would be of little use. So how do you find the Web site you really want on a World Wide Web that contains millions upon millions of sites?

You use a search engine.

Select a question below to learn more about search engines.

1. What is a search engine and how does one work?
   
2. What are some popular search engines?
   
3. Are there any search engines designed for kids?
   
4. Do search engines index the entire Internet?
   
5. What are Boolean operators?
   

Are there any search engines designed for kids?

Yes, there are. These search engines are designed to automatically filter out Web sites that could contain objectionable material.
Ask Jeeves for Kids
Yahoo Kids
Hazoo

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