Search Engine Bookmarks

Popular WWW Engines Ask Jeeves Natural language search service that also includes a meta engine that uses a "refine search" approach: presents you with a selection of possible answers followed by a hitlist. A children's version is available. AltaVista Searches full text of most documents. Good for detailed searches. Field searches (url:, host:, etc.) DirectHit Direct Hit determines the most relevant for your search request. A subsidiary of Ask Jeeves, Inc. Excite Concept searching good for finding related material. List by Web site to identify duplicates. Go Network (formerly InfoSeek) Well indexed pages and fairly reliable ranking. Includes "Similar Search," a selection of suggested queries that help users complete a comprehensive search on their subject. Google Well indexed pages. HotBot Easy interface. Limit searchs by: geographic area, media type, date added, etc. Magellan Limited to reviewed sites. Special & Green sites for children. NorthernLight Standard search features. Sorts results into subject folders. Additional document delivery service. WebCrawler Small database, good for quick, broad searches. Simple Boolean.

Subject Directories

Catalog of sites collected and organized by humans.

About.com: Formerly known as Mining Company, each subject has an assigned "Guide" responsible for writing articles and organizing links.
Argus Clearinghouse: Reviews and rates websites in a variety of academic areas.
Google Web Directory: Currently uses Netscape's Open Directory.
Internet Public Library: Useful for scholarly research.
Librarian's Index to the Internet: Administered by the California State University, another useful site for scholarly research.
LookSmart: Explore popular web sites in over 24,000 subject areas.
Lycos: Changed in April, 1999 from a crawler-based search engine to a directory, using Netscape's Open Directory.
MSN Search: Microsoft's MSN Search offers a way for Internet Explorer 5.0 to save past searches.
NBCi: Human-compiled directory of web sites.
Yahoo!: Largest subject directory on the Internet.

Meta engines

Engines that search several other engines simultaneously.

C4.com: Searches up to 16 search engines. Supports boolean and phrase searching. Only titles and urls of web pages returned.
Debriefing: Searches AltaVista, Yahoo, Infoseek, Excite, Webcrawler, Lycos and Hotbot. Supports boolean and phrase searching.
Dogpile: Popular and efficient, but watch your step :)
GoHip: Searches 9 different search engines.
Ixquick: Ixquick is a metasearch engine that has a number of powerful features including: search relevancy; results (searches 12 engines simultaneously); fast response; advanced syntax support; web, picture, news and MP3 category searches; one dozen languages are supported.
MetaCrawler: Deduplicates and ranks hits according to its own criteria.
OneSeek.com: Searches multiple engines at a time and displays results side-by-side. Clever but messy. Also has subject search engines.
ProFusion: Choose which engines to search.
Will send you updates of your search via e-mail.
Search.com: Limit by source and type of information.
the BigHub.com: Searches both search engines and web directories.

Multi Engine Sites

Sites that list many search engines.

AccuFind: Offers searching in 18 different search engines.
All-in-One Search Page: Very comprehensive collection.
AllSearchEngines.com: Provides links to many search engines.
Euroseek: Links to search engines in Europe.
FINDSPOT: Nice interface. Tips on searching each engine.
GoGettem: Offers searching in many different engines and directories.
Search Bug.com: Excellent collection of search engines and directories.
Virtual Search Engines: Over 1,000 specialized search engines within 50 subject categories are waiting to assist you at this easy-to-use site.
W3 Search Engines: Collection of search engines. Suggestions for additions are welcome.
Webtaxi.com: Provides access to search engines, newsgroups and hard-to-reach databases.

Usenet & Lists

These engines search full text of Usenet postings and will find electronic discussion lists on any topic.

CataList: CataList is the official catalog of Listserv software managed discussion lists.
deja.com: The most powerful engine for searching Usenet newsgroups.
eGroups: A free service allowing individuals "to create or join email groups to share interests and exchange ideas."
eScribe.com: Service for mailing list owners who want to provide access to their archives. Both public and private lists are included.
Liszt mail discussion groups: Largest database but complicated hit lists. Searches Listserv, Majordomo and Listproc.
Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists: A directory of mailing lists searchable by title and subject.
Tile Net: Searches Listserv lists. Clean interface, well organized hit list.

White pages

Use white pages to find persons, organizations or businesses.
Most search engines also offer options to search for people and businesses. Many sources overlap.

AT&T AnyWho Info: US postal and e-mail addresses and businesses. Includes reverse lookup:
phone number to name/address.
Bigfoot: US only.
InfoSpace: Comprehensive services: yellow and white pages, maps, etc.
International e-mail and postal adresses.
Reverse look-up: address or phone to name.
MapQuest!: The source for many other directories. Mapquest has lots of data, but may be slow at peak hours.
MyWay.com: Very large database of businesses in US.
Addresses and maps.
Switchboard: US postal and e-mail addresses. Indexes AOL subscribers.
WebPH: Limited to college and university directories.
International in scope.
WhoWhere: Convenient interface allows you to choose your search.
US postal address and phone numbers.
WorldEmailDirectory(WED): Direct links to International white pages databases.
Also good for businesses and institutions.
Web interface can be confusing.
Yahoo!PeopleSearch: Gives postal addresses for US only.
E-mail addresses world wide.
555-1212.COM: Not a new service but a directory of other white and yellow pages. Well organized.
Addresses and maps.

Special Subjects & Limited Engines Beaucoup subject catalog A huge site organized by subject and listing many site-specific search engines. b2bScene Previously a general purpose search engine called OpenText, now indexing only business resources. ChemFinder Search by formula, name or properties for technical information. Dowjones.com Business Center Use to find information about companies in over 30 industries. FindLaw Comprehensive search tool for all aspects of law and related issues. infoplease.com Searches almanacs by subject and keyword. MathSearch Provides a search interface to over 140,000 English-language mathematics and statistics servers across the web. MedBot Limited to medical images and multimedia resources. NewsIndex An interesting idea: search over 300 newspapers and news sources from around the world for current articles. Price's Direct Search Links to a variety of business, government, legal, humanities and sciences databases. TKM'sEducationWeb Search Searches educational sites When.com A new events directory and personal calendar web site which allows users to browse events listings, ranging from upcoming trade shows to book releases.

New & Noteworthy Alternatives

New search engines pop up every day. Some can be valuable alternatives to the established sources.

fast Search: New search service from Fast Search & Transfer Inc., claiming to have already indexed 80 million web pages.
iWon: Launched in Fall of 1999 by CBS, gives away daily, weekly and monthly prizes.
Internet.com: Sponsored by Mecklermedia, described as "for Internet Professionals". Good for library and information related topics.
Raging Search: New, improved search engine from AltaVista. Compare it with AltaVista and see for yourself.
Seek 123.com: New meta search service with a very fast engine. Offers a variety of specialized search tools.
TopClick: New search service powered by Google but without banner ads, cookies and other clutter to get in the way of searching.
WebTop: New search service from The Dialog Corporation. Includes 3 unique search interfaces.

Software and Services Alexa Freeware that works with your browser and accompanies you as you surf, providing useful information about sites you are viewing and suggesting related sites to visit. AltaVista's Discovery Launches AltaVista from the desktop. Saves searches. Claims to search hard drive and e-mail. BullsEye Sophisticated desktop utility that offers several search options. Cost is about $50. Copernic Freeware that works with your browser to submit searches from the desktop. Informant Regularly submits your search to selected engines and emails you the results. Web Ferret Freeware that works with your browser to submit searches from the desktop. A "Pro" version is available for a small fee.

References and studies Search Engine Watch Great place to keep on top of the latest developments. SE Watch features chart Up-to-date chart of many search engine features. PCMagazine-Search Engine Stats A recent statistical analysis of the leading Web search sites. Search Engine Showdown Good tips from Greg Notess of Online magazine. Secrets of the Search Engines Forum Kids Search Engines List of services designed to serve the needs of children. C|Net reviews C/Net's survey and guide to resources. Using the Web for Research An academic library perspective. Web Search Cheat Sheet Quick summary of popular search engine features.

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last updated 06/27/01