The Web Beyond Google: Innovative Search Tools and Their Implications for Reference Services

Abstract : This article explores Internet search tools that harness emerging technologies and user-centric features such as Web 2.0 sites, mobile applications, metasearching, real-time information, peer-to-peer searches, visual interfaces, and computational abilities. Reference librarians everywhere have incorporated Google into their searching repertoires, but what about other search engines that feature “bleeding edge” technologies and human-friendly designs? Our article is a concise guide to nine innovative search engines—Silobreaker, Zuula, Bing, ChaCha, CompletePlanet, DuckDuckGo, Spezify, Wolfram|Alpha, and Wowd—which give us a glimpse into the future of searching technology. We conclude our article by discussing implications for reference services.