Search Engines

• Alta Vista   An extremely fast search engine for Web pages and newsgroups.
• Excite   Search WWW and Usenet sites by concept or keyword.
• Fast Search   A fast, huge, search engine which works well for simple searches.
• Go.com   A full-text, "real-time" index of over 50 million web pages.
• Google   Fast search engine that caches many sites that it indexes to speed up access.
• HotBot   A search engine with extensive coverage; refine your search carefully.
• Northern Light   An easy-to-use search engine that also includes citations from over 1800 periodicals, newspapers, and publications.
• WebCrawler   Search through over 200,000 WWW sites; relevant hits.
• Yahoo   An engine that allows you to search Yahoo's directory site and/or the Web; has advanced searching options.

• All-In-One   All search tools listed together.
• Ask.com   Easy, general reference. Just type a question using standard English.
• Cyber411   A very fast, thorough, meta-search engine.
• Dogpile   Very fast and efficient meta-search engine that queries search engines, directories, Usenet news and FTP sites.
• Findspot   A gateway to Internet search tools that combines access to these tools with example-based help"; primarily search engines, but includes some directories.
• Metacrawler   Includes MetaSpy and MiniCrawler.
• Vivisimo   Organized search results with document clustering.

• Arriba Vista   Image search engine to help you find that perfect picture.
• Hytelnet   Look for telnet sites by title.
• LISZT   A searchable directory of e-mail discussion groups (listservs, listproc, majordomo).
• NewsTrawler   A meta-search engine for searching the non-subscription news archives.
• Search the List of Lists   An invaluable search tool when you want to find out if there is a listserv on a topic of your choice.
• 2ask   Allows searches, by keyword, to many subject-arranged sites which include searchable directories.

• Choose the Best Engine for Your Purpose   This site provides a table with a list of statements describing the type of information needed, and then suggests search engines for that particular search.
• Introduction to Search Engines   This Kansas City Public Library site includes descriptions and reviews of search engines. It also contains a well-organized chart of Search Engine Comparisons.
• Internet Search Tools and Techniques   This tutorial may be too complex for students, but it is excellent for teachers and librarians. One handy student tool is the table of subject specific search engines that includes companies, jobs, games, clip art, software and health.

• Four NETS for Better Searching   A handy helper to searching the web. Powered by Google.
• Finding It Online: Web Search Strategies   This tutorial presents an easy-to-follow process on using search engines and subject directories for finding what you need on the World Wide Web. Specifically, this tutorial will enable you to:
  • Use subject directories and describe the difference between a subject directory and a search engine.
  • Use implied and full Boolean logic, phrase searching, truncation,and field searching effectively.
  • Identify key concepts, synonyms, and variant word forms in your search topic.
  • Use key search engines effectively including Alta Vista, InfoSeek,HotBot, Northern Light, Excite, and Google.
  • Use meta-search engines and specialty databases when appropriate.