Side-by-side search engine comparisons make searching and finding exponentially more fun (and useful, too)

From John Postill's blog:

Wouldn't it be nice to have a free online resource that allowed you to see Britannica and Wikipedia entries side-by-side when researching a topic? A Brikipedia.

In response to this suggestion, I have found a solution worthy of note: meonl.com. The site offers side-by-side search engine comparisons and also offers a Firefox extension (described below). 

This handy tool lets you enter your keyword search string once and returns results from multiple search engines. The results from your chosen sites (as many as you like) then appear in side-by-side panels. Several icons on the UI let you customize which search engines appear and in which order; add additional panels; switch languages; expand or hide panels; and scroll from side to side.

When I first found this tool, it supported quite a few useful search engines, but with the notable exception of Britannica and Scientific Commons (the former making up John’s Brikipedia request, and the latter one of my personal favorites). So here comes the best part. I wrote an email to meonl.com asking for more search engine options. I got a prompt reply from the developer, Jozef, who promptly set to work on my request. Not only did he add the engines I asked for on the same day, but he included additional ones of an academic nature (Wolfram Alpha and Google Scholar). How’s that for customer service?

For web researchers this tool is an all-round winner. Add friendly and efficient customer service and what more can you want?

So, I give you Brikipedia, only better, with a host more options for side-by-side searching. You can browse to meonl.com or add it to your list of Firefox search engines here.

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