metasearch engines

[Nicholas Tomaiuolo]

Dear Colleagues,
Having used many search engines over a long time period, I am becoming
more interested in metasearch engines (i.e., Dogpile, Metacrawler,
Inference Find).  Because we possibly all agree that it is necessary to
search more than one engine for the most comprehensive results, I am
wondering why metasearch tools aren't used exclusively.

I have observed students at the college where I work using Lycos,
InfoSeek, Yahoo, and AltaVista.  Once in awhile I'll see someone using
Dogpile.  But I don't see the metasearch engines being used very
extensively.

Could I elicit views and opinions from you addressing the
appropriateness of metasearch engine versus single engine use?

Also, would the list care to comment on the features and advantages of
the meta engines in general or any specifically?

I'd like to compile a list of addresses of as many metasearch engines as
possible besides the three I've mentioned.  Can you help?

Thank you very much,
Nick Tomaiuolo
Central CT State University
New Britain, CT 06050
860-832-2068