Hide and Seek
Staff -- School Library Journal, 11/1/1998
Make sure kids have the right tools to search the Web safely and efficiently.
When kids search the Web using tools designed for adults, they retrieve information intended for adults. When kids search the Web using tools designed especially for them, they can find sites that are appropriate for their age and more fun than adult fare.
Key Indexes
A Web index is a categorized list of Web sites selected by the index's editors. Indexes designed for adults (like Yahoo!) contain materials that are not appropriate for children. Kids indexes, however, contain selected links to "safe" sites.
Start off at the KidsClick index, created by librarians from the Ramapo Catskill Library System in Middletown, NY. Here the sites are described by librarians trained in the art of annotation. Another outstanding feature is Kids Click's "Advanced Search" page, where kids search by grade level or for words in a site's annotation and title. DIG, which is short for Disney's Internet Guide, is a large kid-safe index. Note the little screen icon that sits to the left of each site description; if you click on it, the site will appear in a separate window on your computer screen.
SmartZone, created by EdView (maker of filtering software for schools) offers three separate home pages, one designated for elementary kids, one for middle schoolers, and one for high schoolers. SmartZone is the only index that offers age-appropriate home pages -- a very smart idea. StudyWeb, developed by American Computer Resources Inc., has an enormous number of citations (73,000 at last count). Each site description contains both an approximate grade level and an indication of how many pictures the site contains.
Yahooligans! has been around the longest. Designed for ages 7 to 12, itOs sponsored by the folks who brought us Yahoo! Be sure to check out the "Cool" section, which offers an ever-changing list of best sites in different categories.
The Engines That Can
Search engines and meta-searchers are computer programs. Search engines retrieve word-matches from a single database. Meta-searchers retrieve word-matches from several different Web indexes and/or search engines. Since neither tool selects or evaluates the sites they retrieve, children can find lots of inappropriate content when using versions designed for adults. Kids' search engines run screening programs that retrieve only child-safe sites. Kids' meta-searchers link to indexes that select child-safe sites or search engines which run screening software. A meta-searcher might also filter search results itself.
Keep in mind that all kids' search tools are for use with children ages 7 to 12; they are not appropriate for teens, who would find their efforts to research topics such as breast cancer or AIDS thwarted by the screening software.
The SafeSearch search engine, created by the developers of SafeSearch filtering software, screens out just about every site not in English (often a good thing, but not for Spanish-speaking kids) as well as most inappropriate materials. AOL NetfindÑKids Only is another kids' search engine that does a solid job filtering out objectionable content. The site also offers good search examples, such as advising kids to key in "dolls" instead of OBarbie.O Ask Jeeves for Kids, created by the folks at askjeeves.com, a commercial software site, is both a kids' search engine and a meta-search tool. What makes Ask Jeeves unique is that children can use natural language queries. If they're looking for information about the North Pole, for example, instead of typing the words "north" and "pole," they can type, "Where is the north pole?"
Kids Search Tools, created by Jeff Kuntz and the librarians of the Ramapo Catskill Library System in Middletown, NY, is an all-in-one meta-search page. Connect to this page and access many different kids' search tools without having to connect to any of them individually.
Web Addresses
For previous "Surf For" links, visit SLJ Online at www.slj.com/links.html.
KidsClick
sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick/
SmartZone
school.edview.com/search/
StudyWeb
www.studyweb.com/
Yahooligans!
www.yahooligans.com/
SafeSearch
www.safesearch.com/homeframe.htm
AOL NetfindDKids Only
www.aol.com/netfind/kids/
Ask Jeeves for Kids
www.ajkids.com/
Kids Search Tools
www.rcls.org/ksearch.htm
