At the most simple level, the search engine will search a key word and display links that contain it. Despite these limitations, most search engines are not case sensitive. A brief summary of many search engine capabilities is available. The most popular current engines use various algorithms to create relevancy ranked or weighted responses to queries. Some agents are available as desktop clients, some are available as customized criteria on a standard search engine, and some are completely separate.
All agents are an attempt to manage the flood of information over the Internet.
Rarely can a user type a simple single word request and retrieve manageable results. A hypertext bibliography of descriptions and reviews of the major Internet search tools has been compiled for this course. A Sociological Case Study discusses user acceptance of one type of agent. Alta Vista from Digital. Alta Vista provides both a simple search and an advanced search.