Searching the Internet. Part 2: Choosing a Search Engine
WWW Keyword Search Engines and Web Directories
About Search Engines
Using and Evaluating Search Engines
Lists of Search Engines
Keyword-based Search Engines
Note: all of the search engines below, except Northern Light and
Aliweb, offer web directories as well as keyword-based searches.
- All The Web
- Altavista
- Complete Planet; searches
databases normally not indexed by search engines.
- Excite A searchable database for
World Wide Pages and Usenet groups
- Google
- Hotbot from Inktomi
and Lycos; includes a web directory
- Lycos A keyword search engine,
with subject headings
- Netscape search
allows for natural language queries (includes a web
directory and list of reviewed sites)
- Northern Light
Northern Light's collection of journals,
books, databases, and newswires; accessing full text from the
special collection requires a fee. Search box allows natural
language questions. No longer indexes web pages
- OneKey "The Kid Safe Search
Engine."
- Aliweb "The oldest and
cleanest search on the web" (currently being updated)
- Teoma
- Wisenut
See also LookSmart below.
Web Directories (Subject Guides)
Natural Language Searching
- Ask Jeeves; includes a
web directory.
- Webhelp.com Allows you to
ask a natural language question. In addition to the standard
results,
you can get an answer from a real person (requires registration
and a fee).
- Oingo "Meaning based searching."
You type in keywords, and Oingo looks for pages based on the
meaning of your terms, not the keywords themselves. Includes a
web directory
Metasearches (Collections of engines and databases)
- Ixquick "The fastest growing metasearch engine since 1999."
All-in-one Search Pages A collection from Yahoo
-
All-in-one Search Pages A collection from Yahoo
- Search.com A collection of the
major search engines, with subject headings as well; from CNET
-
MetaCrawler A multiple search engine (uses altavista,
inktomi,
and other engines for a single, customizable search
- Dogpile Searches WWW, Usenet,
and FTP sites
- Highway 61 Many search
engines, and a sense of humor
- Accufind Includes subject headings
Individual Search Engine Tutorial Pages
Note: many search engines include a help page, and these are worth
reading, since each engine has its own methods for basic and advanced
searching. Unfortunately, these help pages are often difficult to find,
so I've listed them here separately, in alphabetical order.
Usenet and Other Discussion Group Search Engines
- Dejanews. Note:
Dejanews has been acquired in large part by the search engine
Google, which is providing the archive of previous Usenet postings,
as well as a search engine to access the postings. At this point
(April, 2001), Google is not allowing postings to the Usenet
from Dejanews. For methods of posting, see Google's page on
web based Usenet access
See also Altavista, Excite, Dogpile above for
Usenet searches.
Search through Mailing Lists
Search through FTP Sites
-
Fast FTP Search from Lycos. (FTP search looks for files that
are not in web format [HTML]).
See also Dogpile above.
Search for People, Businesses, Government
- Bigfoot
- Switchboard
- Infospace
- Internet Address Finder
- Yahoo People Search
By name
- The Seeker Find people,
relatives, people who are looking for you, etc.
- World-Wide Yellow
Pages
- Bell South Yellow Pages
- Bigbook Business Directory by
category; includes streetmap for the business
- Verizon SuperPages Yellow
pages,white pages, city directory, and more.
- Anywho Directories
for yellow pages, white pages, reverse directory, toll-free,
email,
websites
- Home Page Search Search
for a personal webpage of computer students
Miscellaneous
Searching the Internet. Part 1: About Search Engines
Searching the Internet. Part 3:
Evaluating Information from the Internet
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This page compiled by Steven Hale, Georgia Perimeter
College, Division of Humanities. Last updated 04-03-02.
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