Internet Search Mechanisms

Harold Goldstein - - Visit the Goldpages
See Fossilized Insects, and help save the Gorillas.

Web Searches | Commercial Products/Sites
FTP/File Searches | Usenet/Email Lists | Searching for People
Internet Reference Desks | Meta-Search Combination Sites | Stand Alone Search Software

There is ALOT here; too much. I also have a one page 'best of' that fits most needs. Beware too, this page may be dated since it is only periodically updated and culled.

The first section is for sites that list and access multiple search mechanisms for the web, usenet, Internet databases, documentation, zip codes, phone numbers and much much more. The Internet Reference Desks offer services you'd expect at a library reference desk. Sections that follow are specific to the web, usenet, people searching, etc. Help me keep this up-to-date; send me your comments, corrections, experiences...

Complete Planet has one of the best Guides to Web Searching and it includes a structural comparison of the best search engines.

Findspot may be the only search tutorial you'll need. It tells you exactly how to use each of the popular search engines. And the BBC tutorial is aimed at the beginner. But if you want more then ... Finding Information on the Internet is a tutorial for both the beginner and the advanced user.
Northern Web's Search Engine Tutorial for web designers discusses design tricks to maximize visibility on the web but also provides insight into the use of the search tools. Search Engine Watch is a total guide to search engines and how they work. Here's a useful Guide to the Search Tools. Do check out the Library of Congress search tool guide. Finally here is a useful article about developing your own search strategy.

Collections of Internet Search Mechanisms
Hotsheet	Also a compendium of useful sites with categories similar to Metaplus above. Either of these make fine starting points for general information searches.
All-In-One	MANY web searches, usenet, domain names, Internet reference collections, Email lists, WAIS, software, people, weather, news, law references, publications, literature, technical reports, Internet documentation, general desk references, phone numbers, zip codes, city maps, job listing, CDs, CIA world facts, geographic distances, much more.
iTools	Has search (find-it), reference and promotion sections; search web, usenet, software, people, gopher; references include langauage aids (thesauri, translators), geographical aids (maps, facts, phone numbers, zip codes), financial aids (currency converters, stocks), UPS, Fed-ex; promotion information lists sites to register your URL.
MySearchEngines	Collection of web search engines and a facility to search through them.
CUI	Web catalogs, search engines, people, Usenet WAIS archives, gopher, computer languages and compilers, computer science topics, Internet RFCs, FAQs and documentation, and a text to speech converter.
CUSI	CUSI allows configurable searches of several engines, indices, documents, dictionaries, software sources, people sources.
The Electric Library	The Electric Library, your personal research librarian, is a pay service (you can get a free trial for 100 searches) that searches hundreds of newspapers, magazines, news wires, an encyclopedia, books, images and much more. An impressive collection.
Ted Slater	Another fine collection of general search resources; web, encyclopedias, usenet, stock prices, government information, maps, general reference, people, software, more.
StandAlone Meta-Search Software
Searchpad	Satyam offers Searchpad, an intelligent search agent that "learns and eliminates unwanted/irrelevant information quickly. It classifies the documents into various categories based on the feedback, and categorizes them as per their relevance." Creating search rules is time consuming and the categorization process is also time intensive. A demo version available; the cost of the final product is unknown.
Copernic	Agent Technology's $29.95 Copernic provides simultaneous parallel search of the top 10 or so search engines. The results can be viewed in your browser. The search can be an OR search or a complete AND; nothing in between.
Internet Mania	Corel's Internet Mania searches Lycos database from a CD offline. In addition you can search Usenet, FTPspace, get stock quotes, and other goodies. Offline searching can be a disadvantage since the CD cannot reflect recent additions.

Internet Reference Desks and the Invisible Web

Research-It from I-Tools offers language, research, library, geographical, financial and mailing tools.
All-In-One offers a wealth of references. See especially desk references.
The Internet Reference Desk is a valuable compendium of references by category. See, for instance, Virtual Facts on File.

The Invisible Web

First see this compendium of Invisible Web Resources or try Direct Search or Online magazine.
You may also search the InvisibleWeb, the LII or Lycos version.
And Gary Price's List of Lists! And his Virtual Acquisition Shelf.
Full text search of huge archive of Science Journals from Highwire Press (Stanford Univ)
The National Academy Press with thousands of science books.
Infomine is the Scholarly Internet Resource Collection; also the Social Science Gateway.
WebSavvy is useful for keeping current; or try C-4-U software. Newscenter, comprehensive directory to up-to-the-minuteNews resources.
Congressional Service Accessible reports.
Resources in Psychology; Political Information; Bibliographic Information;
Statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; the US Census Bureau; the Social Security Agency; the Government Post Office; SEC Filings;
For news sources factiva is a paid service; but try Northern Light; NewsNow

Searching Web Resources

Subject-Oriented Resource Guides
(See also YAHOO, Infoseek, Excite, Webcrawler and Internet Sleuth)

Searching for Image and Sound Files on the Web

Commercial Web Sites

Searching FTPspace - and for files in general

--via the Web - also note the general sources above that reference software.
http://www.shareware.com/ - Search Cnets database of thousands. They also have just opened download.com.
http://jumbo.com/ - Jumbo maintains a huge shareware collection.
http://www.32bit.com/software/ - the latest in 32 bit shareware on the net.
Albert's Ambry is another well organized shareware search site.

Searching for People and Businesses

Now Excite, Infoseek, Yahoo and Lycos offer people searches (email and/or phone numers) and soon everybody else will. But, if nothing works read Decembers Searching for People and Internet People-Culture and read this FAQ.

Searching Usenet / Seeking Newsgroups and Mailing Lists

Searching FOR particular mailing lists or newsgroups.

Miscellaneous Other
http://www.mediabuilder.com/graphicssearch.html - Mediabuilder collects engines that search the web for images.
http://isurf.interpix.com/ - The Image Surfer helps locate images on the web. (see also Lycos above)
http://www.mapquest.com/ - Have customized maps and travel directions prepared.