Most search engines have some sort of index attached to them. Indexes are valuable for web researchers who have an area on which they want to focus, but do not yet have a specific topic. Searching with a Search Engine A search engine is a device that sends out inquiries to sites on the web and catalogs any web site it encounters, without evaluating it. Methods of inquiry differ from search engine to search engine, so the results reported by each one will also differ. Search engines maintain an incredibly large number of sites in their archives, so you must limit your search terms in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed by an unmanageable number of responses.
Search engines are good for finding sources for well-defined topics.
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