The things you're searching for.	September 13, 1999

Back to the Books

Labor Day is one week past and the nippers are back on campus. No surprise, then, that we've had a rush on back-to-school queries. The search particulars have mixed the predictable with the unusual: lots of homework-helper seekers, plus some frat boys and maybe even a batch of sneaky cheaters. So here's a look at the most frequent school-related queries from Lycos users.

TODAY'S HOTTIES

Textbooks

If 1998 was the the breakthrough year for online Christmas commerce, this seems to be the year for online textbook sales. We're getting plenty of textbook queries (see the bonus list at the right) and the main interest seems to be buying. Here's a further report from our partner Synge.com.

Homework

No surprise that homework itself is a top search term . Lycos happens to have a lot of coverage here: for K-8 homework, try the Lycos Kids Zone homework site. Slightly older students may like the Infoplease homework center with juicy details on Roman numerals, famous disasters, and what to call a group of hogs.

Essays

A tricky one. Are these essay searchers simply hardworking students looking for details on Virginia Woolf, or are they slackers trying to plagiarize their way to a PhD? We don't know for sure, but we suspect hanky-panky.

Fraternities

Autum arrives and so do the Animal House boys. An odd aside: with the rise in fraternities we don't see a corresponding rise in searches for sororities. Still more guys online, perhaps?

Abercrombie and Fitch

Didn't these guys used to make duck decoys and fruity hunting caps? It seems Abercrombie and Fitch has spent the last few years repositioning itself as a hyper-hipster version of The Gap. The scheme must be working: searches are up significantly in the last month, and so is the company's stock price.

Science Fair

An unexpected search winner. We think this must be due to kids looking for tips on possible science fair projects. If you like science fairs you may want to read about the 14-year-old girl who won last year's Intel Science Talent Search by predicting the oscillation of neutrinos. And on the topic of kid science whizzes, don't forget the high school boy who built a wearable Webcam and the 10-year-old college freshman.

Beowulf

These Beowulf searchers may really be seeking the cluster-computer effort known as the Beowulf Project. But wouldn't you rather think that the kids are back and brushing up on their ancient Scandanavian legends?

Additional Info

If you're up for more school info, allow us to plug some fine Lycos sites. Wired News has swell coverage of back-to-school '99 with the emphasis on electronica, natch. (Yikes: college students now average $76 a month in cell phone charges.) Our partner Synge.com has a raft of college features including a piece on how to handle school when you're not so young anymore. On Thursday the 16th Lycos is hosting a chat called How to Win the Homework War. Before you visit Abercrombie and Fitch, won't you try our own back to school shopping section? And finally, Tripod has a new easy Classroom Homepage Builder to help individual classes brag online.

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