Internet提供各種不同的協定去擷取世界各地的資訊，WWW檢索引擎或工具則提供使用者在Internet上的目錄或索引以及檢索這些目錄或索引的各種不同方法。到目前為止，並沒有任何標準可以促使這些不同的工具趨於一致，因而使用者必須先了解這些工具才能有效的去運用它們。本文旨在介紹這些工具的類別，選擇與評鑑這些工具的因素，並針對某些工具加以比較，包括Infoseek、Lycos、Open Text、Web Crawler、Yahoo!、Alta Vista、Intkomi、Excite、Magellan、GAIS、以及YAM，後兩者是中英文檢索工具。

The Internet provides various kinds of protocols to access the information around the world. WWW (World Wide Web) search engines or surfing tools provide the users with catalogs or indexes on the Internet and also different ways of searching the catalogs or indexes. So far, there is no standard to enforce their constancies; therefore, it is required for the users to understand those tools before they can use them more effectively. This article introduces different kinds of search tools, the factors to evaluate those tools, and the comparison of some tools including Infoseek, Lycos, Open Text, Web Crawler, Yahoo!, Alta Vista, Inktomi, Excite, Magellan, GAIS, and YAM.