The Internet provides a variety of mutual fund screening tools that sort thousands of mutual funds by criteria that you select. For example, you may want one type of fund for your children’s education — something long term because you don’t need the money for 10 to 20 years — and a different fund for your retirement to help you reduce your current tax liabilities. With these online screening tools, you can evaluate several funds that meet your financial needs.

Most of the stock-screening sites on the Internet are free. These database searches are an inexpensive way to isolate mutual funds that meet your special criteria. Some databases list funds incorrectly or have outdated information. However, they’re useful for pruning a large list of candidates to a manageable short list.

Each screening site uses different criteria to sort mutual funds. You have to decide which criteria you care about and then use the site that offers the criteria you want. Any way you look at it, the selection of the right mutual fund is still up to you.

Here’s an overview of the features of two mutual fund screens that are better for beginning online investors:

MSN Money (moneycentral.msn.com/investor/finder/mffinder. asp) offers the Easy Fund Finder, which lets you search a database of more than 8,000 mutual funds for the one fund that meets your needs and investment objectives. MSN Money also offers 11 prebuilt mutual fund screens. Just click Power Searches for screens that include the criteria that you feel are the most important when selecting a mutual fund. Examples of the prebuilt screens include Safety first funds; Do-it-yourself funds (this screen lets you experiment with your own pain threshold); Foreign stock funds; High-yield bond funds; Hot, no-load funds; Large blend funds; NAIC equity screen; NAIC fixed-income screen; Small cap growth funds; Specialty technology funds; and Top-rated funds. You can also design your own mutual fund screens.

Morningstar (www.morningstar.com) offers a free, independent service that evaluates more than 11,000 mutual funds. From Morningstar’s home page, click Funds and then Fund Selector. The free screen lets you set the criteria for fund type, cost and purchase options, ratings and risk, returns, and portfolio. You can view five screens developed by Morningstar.com analysts. The advanced search function is comprehensive; expect great performance and historical data.

The following mutual fund screens are great for more experienced investors:

Forbes Mutual Fund Tool (www.forbes.com/finance/screener/ Screener.jhtml) lets you screen the Lipper database of more than 11,000 mutual funds. You select the criteria that match your investment objectives by using a collection of drop-down lists, radio buttons, and text boxes. Just click the categories you’re interested in and then click the Screen link to access the database and see which funds score best. Don’t forget to use the glossary to define any terms you’re unfamiliar with.

Smart Money Interactive (www.smartmoney.com) has a do-it-yourself mutual fund finder that searches a database of more than 12,000 mutual funds using more than 60 different financial and valuation benchmarks. View your results in three different formats. Save your favorite screens for repeated use. Further analyze funds using SmartMoney.com’s fund snapshots, advanced charting, and technical analysis tools. It also has prebuilt mutual fund screens. There is a 14-day free trial. You’ll find three levels of subscriptions: $5.95 per month for SmartMoney Select features powered by 20-minutes-delayed quotes, $10.95 per month for SmartMoney Select real-time quotes and investor tools, and $19.95 per month for the SmartMoney Select real-time with XStream quotes and NASDAQ Level II quotes, which doesn’t offer a free trial.