Kartoo Metacrawler Review
By Nick Briggs
About Kartoo
Kartoo is an interactive flash base Metacrwler that lets you search different topic thought the yahoo engine. It was created in France by two cousins named Laurent and Nicholas Baleydier and was released in the year 2001.
Searching Though Kartoo
To search Kartoo you must first put in a keyword (it is not case sensitive) on the first page and click the search button. After that it will bring up a page with a Map, a topic list, tabs and different buttons. All of these will help you narrow the search or change the way the map is seen. There is even a link to Thumbshots.com.
Topic List
The topic list allows you to narrow the search greatly. For example, if you are looking for cooking sites, it will come up with words like recipe, food, and wine. When an item is rolled over, it will hi-light the different websites on the map that fit that item. When you click on an item in it, a new map will appear that refers to that topic.
Using the Map
The map is the most interactive part on Kartoo. It shows little blobs on the screen that show the range of the different topics. When you rollover these it will draw and hi-light different sites that fit the topic. If you click on a topic, it will change the map. When you rollover a pitcher of a website in the map, it will display information about the site in the topic list area. When you click on a website icon, it will open that site up to the topic you are looking for.
Using Tabs
The tabs help to further the search of your topic. The web tab is selected by default. The second tab, Images; opens up the yahoo search engine with images selected and the topic you are looking for is in the search box. The video tab does the same thing as the images tab. The wikipedia tab will bring up the wikipedia site in a new window with the topic selected.
Strengths
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Easy to use interfaceInteractive map
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Tabs help advents the search
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Topic list narrow the search
Weaknesses
- Long loading from time to time
- Splash screen can sometime stay after map loads
- Not all topic list item are on the map
Kartoo is a great Metacrawler for either research or personal use. As will as gives the user a more controlled feel.
Part of the information was found onwikipedia. Clip art was created in Photoshop.
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