How to use this Page

Do you remember the first search engine you ever used? Was it Alta Vista? (That dates some of us.) Was it Google? Have you noticed how search has changed over the years? Some search engines no longer exist, new ones arrive on the scene (and sometimes depart pretty quickly) and others change in order to remain relevant. The world of search is not static and Google’s Knowledge Graph that launched recently shows just how true that is.

[View the story "What's This Thing Called Knowledge Graph?" on Storify]

Title: Qwiki
Platform: iPad – requires iOS 3.2 or later
Cost: Free

The idea of Qwiki, a search site that recently become available as an iPad app, is to present search results in movie form. (The movies are called Qwikis.) Type in a search, say Hunger Games, and the result is a short Qwiki that tells about the search topic. With Hunger Games, viewers learn about the author, when the book was published, and a bit about the plot. The Qwiki is narrated by a female computer voice and as the information is spoken images change to coincide with topics covered in the audio.

With the iPad app, Qwiki is a scaled down version of the web search tool, yet, when using the app on an iPad it seems like Qwiki was meant for the tablet format. The videos fit the screen perfectly and the interface for locating more information on a topic, or for finding information about a location, are intuitive and easy to use.

The app front page changes on a regular basis. There is always a Qwiki of the Day, along with links to the most popular searches, links to Qwikis related to the current location, and links to Qwikis for popular locations. If location services are turned off on the iPad, then the examples are generic and not tied to the current location of the user. In other words, when I have location services activated, on the front screen of Qwiki I see links to Qwikis related to New York City. When location services are turned off what I see on the front Qwiki screen are Qwikis on locations around the world.

There are also several categories of searches available from a main menu on every Qwiki screen. These include cities, natural wonders, and monuments, along with actors and Daily, which provides links to the most recent Qwikis of the day.

Users of Qwiki do not have to use one of the predetermined categories in order to find information. Every screen also includes a search box.

Once viewing a Qwiki it’s possible to turn captioning on and off and to click on an image or video to see it in greater detail in order to learn more about it – where it came from and what it shows.

All Qwikis also link to related Qwikis – in the app these are either available at the end of a Qwiki or by clicking on the + sign at the bottom right of the screen. These related searches are useful in order to learn more about a topic. Teens can definitely find more threads to pursue in their research by checking out the related Qwikis.

The location-based features of the Qwiki app are pretty compelling. If a user has location services enabled, Qwiki knows where a user is and shows links to Qwikis of sites of interest in the immediate area. If the location services are disabled, a user can still find information about what’s nearby as the map includes a link for typing in a l