Search engines for educational, academic and scholar research

Internet is a powerful tool for students, researchers, scholars and academics offering easy access to a wealth of information. But at first attempt it is really time consuming to look only for academic resources or educational stuff as search engines grab hundreds or thousands results which include relevant but paid search results which may not fulfill your needs.

All search engines do not search the same material. Some search engines are more useful to students and researchers because they search pre-screened material, including scholarly databases and government documents. Using academic quality search engines is important because not all information published on the Internet is authoritative and accurate. Collaborative websites, such as Wikipedia, can be edited by anyone and often are not reviewed by experts. Websites may be published online without an external review for reliability.

Many sites do not include information on their authors, which makes it difficult to assess the writer’s qualifications in the field. Some links returned by search engines lead to spam sites that contain off-topic or unhelpful information or advertising links.

Academic and educational search engines and web directories provide research-quality content from websites that are screened by educators and experts in a particular field. These search tools also search the “invisible web”, which is material not available through general search engines. The invisible web contains information included in search able databases and archives. By using these search engines and web directories, students and teachers can obtain research quality information without the difficult task of weeding out non-authoritative and spam sites. Users can be sure that these search engines will not return the spam sites, junk sites, or sites of dubious quality and research value that broader search engines may return.

• Google Scholar: For broad searches of scholarly material. Returns journal article and book citations to point researchers to useful material. Users can set Google Scholar’s library preferences to include material from their institution.
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• Microsoft Academic Search: Allows users to search scholarly papers, journals, and conference proceedings. Also allows searches by author. Includes links to download full-text articles when available.
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• Internet Public Library: Resources reviewed by professional librarians. Search-able and organized by subject.
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• Infomine: Search university-level scholarly information including biological and medical sciences, business and economics, the physical sciences and engineering, government information, electronic journals, and the social sciences and humanities.
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• Intute: Search material evaluated by specialists in the subject.
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• Scirus: Research the content of scientific journals, patent information, and scientist’s websites.
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• Scitopia: Search online libraries of leading science societies, scientific journals, and conference proceedings.
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• GPO Access: Search United States government documents.
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• RefSeek: Subject directory and search engine, includes results from reference material. Allows users to search the web or documents.
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• Academic Index: Search within subject areas. Searches databases of research-quality material reviewed by educators and librarians.
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• The Infography: Search material reviewed by professors and librarians. Provides recommendations by specialists for further reading in a subject.
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• Directory of Open Access Journals: Search peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly journals.
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• Virtual Library: This search engine’s database is reviewed by subject experts.

Source: 'Start local' - Australian Business Directory & Local Business Search Engine

* Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list!

* SearchEdu.com – one of the best and largest educational and academic search sites

How search engines work and how to find specific information from search engines

To enter the world wide web you need to open a page first and enter the text or keyword to search for the stuff.  Search engines are meant to provides results within seconds but you should learn how search engines work and how you can find the specific information around the net without wasting your time.  You should also have a knowledge of topic based search engines because when you search for specific topics based information, it is advised to look for the search engines specifically dealing in those topics. If you need to search for educational links, 'Google' is always a best choice to look for any kind of information or links but if you want to omit unnecessary or prfessional links then better to go for educational search engines. At the end of this post you may check useful links section.

How Search Engines work?

 

Search engines look for your search term within the web pages they've collected and indexed. The results reflect the search engine's determination of how relevant the site's content is to your inquiry. But some search engines will rank sites higher in your results if the site pays a fee, regardless of its relevance to your terms. FTC officials say it's a savvy surfer who knows how search results are sorted and ranked. It can make a difference in which search engines you choose to use and how you interpret the results.

 

If you use Internet search engines, the FTC(Federal Trade Commission) wants you to know that:

• Some search engines have programs for paid placement and paid inclusion. 
• Paid placement means websites or URLs pay search engines for higher rankings or more prominent placements in search results.
• Paid inclusion means websites or URLs pay to be included in a search engine's pool of results available for display, but not to be more prominent.
• Sometimes, third-party partners, like other search engines or guide sites, provide listings to search engines. If a partner has its own payment arrangements with a website, it could affect the results on the search engine you use.
• Many sites indicate whether a placement is paid for. If the search engine separates some search results as "Sponsored Listings," they may be paid for placement. But keep in mind that results may be grouped under other labels. Look for terms like "featured listings," "recommended sites," "search partner" or "products and services." If those sites are ranked higher than others or placed in a more prominent location than others, it could be a tip-off that the search engine uses a paid placement program.
• You may find an explanation of the type of paid placement or paid inclusion program the search engine uses. If such a program is in use, the explanations should be easy to find and understand. If they're not and the omission bothers you, let the search engine know.
• Paid inclusion programs do not guarantee higher rankings for listings and may provide features that are useful. For example, paid inclusion programs may provide consumers with better choices if the programs allow search engines to review URLs more quickly or review websites more deeply than they would otherwise.
• You have a choice. Before you decide which search engine to use, consider whether the use of payment programs for placement or inclusion is important to you.

Download pdf version of this report: Being Frank about Search Engine Rank

 

These facts and tips are provided by ftc.gov (Federal Trade Commision) for the benefits of consumers, so you can judge how search engines work and to what extent you can trust at their results.

Useful links and resources:

* All of these links lead to sites that contain specific information that may not turn up when you do a general search of the Web using Altavista, Yahoo, and other search engines and directories. 'Specialized Search Engines and Directories'

* You can find catagorized list of search engines at: 'Search Engine Guide'

* 'Virtula Sites' presents : Education search engines

'Kids Cant Wait' - Helping Students Graduate With Needed Skills

High school graduation is an important step which prepares students for further higher studies and jobs as well. But how many of all graduates are successful in getting good grades for higher studies or good jobs?

Reality is that most of the students are not sufficiently skilled for the future life. The question is,

Why we need 'skill' development for high school students?

It is commonly observed that most of the students who graduate from high school lack the skills needed to do well in college or in a job.
- Many high school graduate end up in second class jobs because employers screen new employees with 6th grade English and Math tests and most of them can't pass the screen tests.
- Some college students have to appear for remedial courses because they fail freshman placement tests.

So we as a parents or teachers have to provide our support to students that they would have access to effective extra academic programs (especially in English and math) and graduate with the skills they need.

Kidscantwait.org is a campaign to help high school students graduate with skills.

The site will provide extra academic resources.

Moreover it will feature:(In their own words)

•A statewide directory of in-school and extended-time academic programs with descriptions and contact information.

•A Business Honor Roll of businesses who support local extra academic time programs for high school students by providing funding or other resources such as mentors, tutors, and summer jobs scheduled around extra help programs.

•Regional Business Forums: These forums, held across the state this spring with state officials, educators, and business leaders, will highlight local school and business-supported programs, enlist new business partners, and marshal local support.

•Community Media Outreach: At local editorial board meetings with school superintendents, businesspeople, community leaders, and legislators, we will highlight local efforts underway in our schools and advocate for increased focus on students who need help.