Internet Search Tools

Go to:  Web Search Engines        Meta Search Engines        Web Directories & Guides

Web Search Engines use software tools to automatically retrieve and index files from the Internet. No search engine indexes the entire Internet; each one offers different coverage and slightly different options for searching. Most (but not all) search engines offer simple and advanced search options. The following are among the best known search engines:

Altavista One of the most comprehensive and sophisticated search engines. Allows searches for images, audio & video files; supports searches in different languages.
Direct Hit Ranks search results by taking into account which sites users have clicked on and how long users have stayed at each site.
Excite Offers additional keywords to narrow searches, and allows you to group results by website.
Google Ranks search results by the number of sites linking to them and the popularity of the linking sites, thus enhancing the relevance of results in many cases.
Hotbot One of the most comprehensive search engines; offers advanced search features upfront, in an easy-to-use format.
Infoseek    Use the advanced search feature to search the web or usenet, or to find company information.
Lycos Groups search results into 4 categories: popular, web sites, news articles, and shopping.
Northern Light Dynamically groups search results into 'custom folders;' offers a combination of free and fee-based information.

 Meta Search Engines simultaneously run your search words against several search engines, thus allowing for a more comprehensive search. However, since each search engine has slightly different search rules, you are often restricted to performing fairly basic searches when you use a meta search engine.

All-In-One Provides access to over 500 Internet search engines, databases, indexes, and
directories in a single site.
Ask Jeeves Ask a question in natural language and AskJeeves will search for an answer using its knowledge base, and by sending the query to several other search engines.
Dogpile "Fetches" answers from 18 different search engines.
Fossick.com In addition to providing a meta-search service, fossick.com also provides links to numerous specialized search engines and directories.
Ixquick This meta-search engine allows for sophisticated searches using Boolean logic, wildcards, etc.
Mamma Simultaneously queries 10 search engines and presents one set of results.
Metacrawler Simultaneously queries 13 search engines; allows phrase searching.
The Big Hub Formerly known as iSleuth; searches 10 search engines and directories simultaneously, and delivers one summary of results.
Search.com This is c|net's meta-search engine, also known as Savvysearch; allows you to search web pages, directories, headlines, and online prices, using general & specialized search engines

Web Directories and Guides are constructed by human beings who select and categorize web sites. Almost all of these directories now allow users to perform keyword searches within the directory as well as to browse by category.

About.com Offers over 700 Internet guides grouped under 36 broad categories.
Argus Clearinghouse Collects, organizes and evaluates subject guides to resources on the internet; very selective.
BUBL Info. Service A highly organized collection of Internet resources and other information deemed to be of interest to the higher education community in the UK.
Infomine A librarian-built directory; organizes scholarly resources thought to be relevant to the needs of college and university faculty, students, and research staff.
LookSmart A searchable directory of over a million Web sites indexed into categories by "professional taxonomists and editors — 'webrarians'."
OCLC's NetFirst  100,000 web resources that have been selected and formally cataloged by librarians.         On campus access only!
Open Directory Project Founded as an alternative to yahoo!, this directory contains over a million sites organized by 20,000 volunteers.
Snap People submit their favorite sites (and select categories for them); those sites that get the most hits endure, while less popular ones are replaced by new submissions.
WWW Virtual Library The oldest catalog on the web (started by the creator of html). Volunteer "experts" compile and maintain pages of links in particular subject areas.
Yahoo! Perhaps the best-known web directory, Yahoo! now includes half a million web sites.  Sites suggested by users are evaluated and placed in categories by Yahoo! surfers.