Conclusions

What is unique about Ask Jeeves?

You can ask in either question or keyword format.
Responses include other possible questions, as well as links to websites and links to results from other search engines.

Advantages		Disadvantages
User-friendly		Hard to get many answers to very specific questions
Helps narrow down question itself instead of you guessing keywords		Less successful with facts than with "how-to"s
Can refine search string as you go instead of restarting
Can post question to general community for "human answers"

What is different about Dogpile?

Keyword searching only
Searches 14 other search engines (Looksmart, GoTo.com, etc.)
Gives much wider response to a search string

Advantages	Disadvantages
More likely to find the right answer to a factual question	Takes longer to sort through all the results (136,000 from Google on "chestnut")
	If the keywords fail you start over
	Sorts by search engine, not relevance

We prefer Ask Jeeves in general because it's user-friendly and aids the thinking process. You don't have to break everything into keywords and quotes and Boolean operators. Even though Dogpile also found the answers (and has a cool name) the "dogpile" of responses can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Basically it comes down to what kind of question you're asking - if you want to know how to renew your passport or dry maple leaves without losing the color, Ask Jeeves is by far the best, while if you just want to know where Bach is buried or Mahler's influence on Schoenberg, Dogpile was more direct (once you found where on the page the link was).

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