KartOO
KartOO is a
metasearch engine accessible at www.KartOO.com. It differs from other metasearch engines in that it maps its results visually. Note, the
Flash plugin is required to make use of this engine. To quote from the KartOO
homepage:
KartOO is a metasearch engine with visual display interfaces. When you click on OK, KartOO launches the query to a set of search engines, gathers the results, compiles them and represents them in a series of interactive maps through a proprietary algorithm
This sounds good in theory, but it's also useful in practice. The maps KartOO provides not only look really cool but also phrase a sort of visual summary of the relevant information available on the wwweb. Even more beneficial than the display of relative keywords between various sites is the ability KartOO gives you to modify the search parameters by eliminating or requiring specific search words. This allows you to disconnect or eliminate irrelevant parts(/sites) of the results graph. These functions together give a user a much better idea of how information is distributed on the wwweb. It also gives the user a clear idea of just how complex it is to find the information s/he seeks in the quagmire that has become the World Wide Web.
Some useful pointers and tips:
- Don't forget to click the Little Green Down Arrow in the bottom right corner, it scrolls to the next results map, there are often more than one.
- Take the time to mouse over all the different icons, there are lots of cool features you might miss if you don't play around with it a bit.
- Check out the advanced mode, among other things it lets you change the language. (The button looks vaguely like a mischevious mask)