Editing Internet research (section)

==Search tools==
{{See also|Search engine}}

Search tools for finding information on the Internet include [[web search engine]]s, the search engines on individual websites, the browsers' hotkey-activated feature for searching in the current page, [[Metasearch engine|meta search engines]], [[Web directory|web directories]], and specialty search services. 

=== Web search ===
A Web search allows a user to enter a search query, in the form of keywords or a phrase, into either a search box or on a search form, and then finds matching results and displays them on the screen. The results are accessed from a database, using search algorithms that select web pages based on the location and frequency of keywords on them, along with the quality and number of external hyperlinks pointing at them. The database is supplied with data from a [[web crawler]] that follows the hyperlinks that connect web pages, and copies their content, records their URLs, and other data about the page along the way. The content is then indexed, to aid retrieval.

To view this information, a user enters their search query, in the form of keywords or a phrase, into a search box or search form. Then, the search engine uses its algorithms to query a database, selecting

=== Websites' search feature ===

Websites often have a search engine of their own, for searching just the site's content, often displayed at the top of every page. For example, Wikipedia provides a search engine for exploring its content. A search engine within a website allows a user to focus on its content and find desired information with more precision than with a web search engine. It may also provide access to information on the website for which a web search engine does not.

=== Specialty search tools ===
Specialty search tools enable users to find information that conventional search engines and meta search engines cannot access because the content is stored in databases. In fact, the vast majority of information on the web is stored in databases that require users to go to a specific site and access it through a search form. Often, the content is generated dynamically. As a consequence, Web crawlers are unable to index this information. In a sense, this content is "hidden" from search engines, leading to the term invisible or [[deep web|deep Web]]. Specialty search tools have evolved to provide users with the means to quickly and easily find deep Web content. These specialty tools rely on advanced bot and [[intelligent agent]] technologies to search the deep Web and automatically generate specialty Web directories, such as the Virtual Private Library.