Kngine

Knigne is a new (beta) Web 3.0 search engine. What does this mean? It means it is built around semantics or the "semantic web". It tries to help answer a users question but also determine trends of that user.

There are a bunch of engines around that are starting to do this, Europeana has one and there are viral videos all around too (search parallax browsing).

I feel that Knigne is already an excellent new resource and can really see it being used in education. However, that's not to say there is room for improvement. I asked a question, What is the Matrix (yes, I'm watching that movie as I type this) and it kinda got confused as to what I wanted. I suppose that's ok, considering I'm not exactly sure what it is either ;-) Although ,when I did a search on a term and not a question, it gave me a nice looking page of graphics, tags, and wikipedia type data.

I highly recommend giving Knigne a try by clicking here.

Below is a pic on a search on the term, Web 2.0...



For another excellent review, check out Larry Ferlazzo award nominated blog.

Murgurdy

Murgurdy is a new search engine which I learned about from Larry Ferlazzo's excellent blog. This is a nice search engine to get visual results on search terms. For example, whatever term is searched a nice collection thumbnails is returned w/ a blurb about the site underneath.

Below is a pic on a search of the term, web 2.0.



Give Murgurdy a try by clicking here.

Stinky Teddy

Well, this is going to be an interesting post, if not for just the name.... Stinky Teddy is a search engine that learned about from Larry Ferlazzo's great blog (I think he may have named it too ;-). It is a search powered by gossip. What this actually means is it is powered by social media to get up to the date data.

Give ST a try by clicking here.

Below are the results for a search on the term, "What is the best web 2.0 application?"

Aardvark

Aardvark is a kind of search engine that I looked at awhile back but was reminded about by a
friend, Alexandra Fransisco. This reminds a lot of Ask.com w/ a social networking twist. Basically, you ask a question, and then Aardvark polls your social networks of choice to "ask others" the answer. Then it posts the answers all in one spot.

I like Aardvark because it is really easy to use (if you use Facebook) and it automatically takes care of the rest. Also, you can edit your profile so you can help others who submit questions via Aardvark as well.



Give Aardvark a try by clicking here!!!

Ziipa

Ziipa is a "web 2.0" search engine that I found out about from Shelly Terrell's wonderful blog. This is unique among search engines because it only focuses on: Web 2.0, start-ups, and applications... ideal for the 21st Century educator!!

Another nice feature of Ziipa is that the results come back by showing a thumbnail of the site, w/ a star rating system that you can vote on. Features like these make searching for "web 2.0" tools a snap.

Below are results for a search on the term, file sharing.



Give Ziipa a try by clicking here.

Oamos

Oamos is a new and fun search engine I first read about on Larry Ferlazzo's blog. After giving it a try all I can say is, WOW. What a crazy/wild idea the way this engine works. There really isn't anything out there quite like this. Just type in a term (try your name for real fun and check out your PLN pics) and hit return. The engine goes to a new screen where multi-media images appear w/ music playing in the background, all of these image are linkable and takes you to a source, which makes it quite useful.

Give Oamos a try by clicking here you won't be disappointed.

Below is a sample video on the search term, 21st century technology...

Faroo

Faroo is a new search engine that I learned about from Free Technology For Teachers, one of the premiere blogs around. This is very similar to Scoopler in that it is a "real-time" search engine. This is done by getting up to date data and ranking it on a number system. The higher the number the more popular the item.

Other nice features that I like are the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed which then updates the user when a new news result gets posted; as well as the ability to view a thumbnail of the site before clicking on a link.

Below is a pic of a search on the term Web 2.0...



Give Faroo a try by clicking here.

WebKruz

WebKruz is one of many new search engines (from Larry Ferlazzo highly recommended!!) that uses visualization and multi-media to query their search results. In their own words, " Webkruz is an new innovative visual search engine that is striving to change how people search for data on the internet. Instead of showing the results in a flat textual format, Webkruz shows the results in a way that gives the results more depth."

WK has one really cool feature which I have not seen before, and that is when you do a search on a term the results come in thumbnail pictures which then act like a slideshow. This is very handy when you want to see the home page of each of your results. However, if there is one draw back to the site I feel that it is a bit busy and w/ the advertising taking on such a prominent role it does district from the content of the page.

Search results on the term 21st century technology...



Give Webkruz a try by clicking here.

Collecta

Collecta is a new (beta) search engine which gives you up to date information based on monitoring "LIVE" RSS feeds of various sites. This reminds me a lot of Scoopler in that sense.



This is actually very cool and has a rather unique user interface. For example, you can actually edit your search preferences similar to how you would edit a "cloud" in Search Cloud. Also, you can preview your hits before visiting the site, which is a nice feature shared by many engines.



My only "gripe" I have w/ this site is how long it takes to get your results. I'm guessing this is because it still is in beta and there is not a lot of data right now. However, when you do type in a term that is in their database, you get fast and up to date information.

Below is search on the term, "Steve Jobs"....



Give it a try by clicking here.

Hakia

Hakia is a new (beta) search engine that focuses on semantics. What this means is it has the ability to search more effectively then other search engines by incorporating these three things: results come from credible Web sites recommended by librarians, represent the most recent information available, and remain absolutely relevant to the query.

The semantic web is the evolution of the internet and how data is searched/retrieved. The common term for this is "web 3.0". This can be summed up best by quoting directly from their site, "Semantic search technology enables accurate retrieval of information via concept or meaning match. The technology is effective, as it is perhaps the only method that can be appropriately applied to credible and dynamic content. Most of this type of content is statistically flat (infertile) for popularity algorithms (conventional search engines like Google) to work effectively beyond common queries. "

I must say after using it I am really impressed w/ what I have seen. Europeana has a very similar search engine built into their site. I highly recommend you check out both of them to see where the web is heading.

Below is a pic of the search results, notice how you can check on/off credible sites.



Give Hakia a try by clicking here.

Search Motive

Search Motive is an interesting new (beta) search engine designed to give you results from "people" not "web crawlers". Here is a quote from their site, "Get relevant, recent, and real-time search results from the most popular social networking and user-submitted content sites including Twitter, Digg, Hulu, Flickr, YouTube, and many more!"

Another nice feature to SM is the ability to search either via: web, images, or video.

Below is a screen shot of the results from a query on technology integration.



Give Search Motive a shot by clicking here.

Scoopler

Scoopler is a new (beta) real time search engine. So, What does that mean? Well, here is a quote from their site... "Scoopler is a real-time search engine. We aggregate and organize content being shared on the internet as it happens, like eye-witness reports of breaking news, photos and videos from big events, and links to the hottest memes of the day."

Scoopler is very easy to use and the results it gives back are quite interesting. I do like how there is a "share" button. When you click that it gives you some options of sites you can share to such as: Twitter, Digg, De.lic.ious, etc.

Below is a screen shot of my 21st century technology search...



Give Scoopler a try by clicking here.

Sperse vs Spezify

Spearse and Spezify are new search engines that I just found out about. For a great review on both of them, I suggest checking out Larry Ferlazzo's intricate/abundant blog.

Spearse - is very similar to your typical browsing experience...meaning it acts the way most search engines do. There are some nice features by searching by: web, images, video, news, etc. Also, a very handy feature is that the search results come back w/ a preview icon so you can literally see a "snap shot" of the site before browsing to it.



Spezify - is a bit harder to describe w/ a very unique look/feel to it. It acts like a browser but the results you get are a mixture of images/text/multi-media etc. It kind of reminded me of the World Book application that came on the Mac's 4-5 years ago.

Worio

Worio is a new search engine (beta) that I just heard about on the excellent blog, Free Technology 4 Teachers. Worio is interesting w/ the way that it handles searches by working "hand-n-hand" w/ keywords to give you the best results.

For example, when you search using Worio (you can also default by Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) it brings up your hits on the left; on the right you see your related results w/ suggested terms. This is what makes Worio unqiue and probably it's most useful feature.

There is a Web 2.0 component to Worio as you can register an account and then create your own searches, add friends, and Worio customizes itself to give you the best "searching" experience.

Below is a search using "technology integration" notice the difference from the left/right sides!




For more info click here.

Safe Search Engines

Finding Safe Search Engines for schools has long been a struggle since the introduction of the internet. I remember the days when "we" would allow students to surf Yahoo/Google/Hotbot/Lycos etc. hoping "our" filters would catch all the bad stuff. Unfortunately a filter alone does not protect students from getting into inappropriate things. Hence the introduction of sites such as Nettrekker which is a paid search engine for schools. While I like Nettrekker and think is a useful resource for students, there are some free resources that are getting more and more effective at filtering their search results. Below are two of the newer/better search engines around.

Kid Rex - Kid Rex is a search engine built by kids for kids powered by Google's Safe Search Technology. Google's SafeSearch screens for sites that contain explicit sexual content and deletes them from your child’s search results. Google's filter uses advanced technology to check keywords, phrases, and URLs. No filter is 100 percent accurate, but SafeSearch should eliminate most inappropriate material.

Another feature I like about KR is the ability to add sites to their "black list" that you feel are inappropriate. There is an approval process that it has to go through but they are always willing to listen and do what they can to keep things safe. Check out their tips for Online Safety here.

Famhoo - Is a new site that is dedicated to making searching online safe. Here is a blurb from their site...

Our Search Engine Methodology Although our search engine methodology is confidential, we can tell you that we filter our results in a way that protects your family. We also sort the results in a way that we hope allows you to effectively find the most applicable websites you are searching for.

While I'm not sure I agree w/ keeping their methodology confidential it does appear to do the job and filter out anything that is inappropriate. The one thing I'm not to fond of is the "busy" nature of their home page, it seems to be a bit to cluttered for me.

DocJax

DocJax is a new site (beta) for searching for documents/eBooks (PDF's, XLS, etc) Once you find the document you can either preview it in the web, rate it, or download it.

What makes this search engine so great is the Web 2.0 features. You can create an account then rate documents, post comments, chat, etc. So far, this has been the best way to search digital content that I can find.

For more info click here.

Below is a pic of a search result, notice how you can preview, rate, or download.