For most of us, search makes use of the same tool and the simple process of entering a couple of words we think will surface useful information. Nothing very sophisticated even when advance options are available for our use.
We encourage students to explore search options by trying the same search with different search engines.
This process has been automated through a clever hack by Michael Kordahi. BlindSearch submits a search to three search engine and returns the results in three columns without identifying the search engine responsible for each search. The idea is to examine the results and identify the column you feel provides the most useful results. The search engine associated with each column is then revealed. A link on the search page offers a running total of best search performance for the past 8 weeks.
I tried several different searches and my selections of “best” results were all over the place. This would make a useful classroom activity.
