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	Search Engines General Meta-Search Specialized
	Subject Trees Library Class Other
	Address and Telephone Search Engines
	Search Reviews

Internet searchers continue to come in an amazing array, and more appear weekly. That's the bad news. The good news is that various people are analyzing them carefully and mounting sites to help pick the right search engine according to one's need.

The best list we have found for all types of net searches is Internet Navigation Tools from Rice. It is comprehensive, concise and clear. The best analysis of search engines is Search Engines Quick Guide. If in need of a tutorial, the best sites to check are:

	Bare Bones 101: A Basic Tutorial on Searching the Web, by Ellen Chamberlain, University of South Carolina-Beaufort
	Finding Information on the Internet from Berkeley's library, which goes from the basics to advanced techniques
	Tutorial: Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet, The WebTools Company
	Web Searching, Sleuthing and Sifting by Angela Elkordy
	For those in need of a glossary, see Search Engine Terms, a multiple language resource from I-Search

For those wishing pointers to the best sites, not just the obvious, Tool Kit for the Expert Web Searcher by Pat Ensor is a frequently updated and pithy guide from a librarian who searches the Web daily. And Search Engine Watch is a comprehensive site for power users -- Webmasters, as well as Web searchers. It includes a very helpful Awards Section.

While I cannot claim to be an expert, for those less expert (i.e., the desperate), I seem to end up with the best results from:

	Google as a general search engine;
	Yahoo as a bulk classified approach; and
	Librarians' Index to the Internet from Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE, as a screened classified approach.

For email, I have not happened on the "best" solution, but have narrowed it to a few likely resources listed near the end of this page.

AcqWeb's Home Page

Last updated:
September 10, 2001

SEARCH ACQWEB

SEARCH ACQNET

	The exact phase All the words (AND) Any of the words (OR)
	Acqnet Acqflash

SEARCH ENGINES

• General Web Search Engines
  • Alta Vista searches both Web pages and Usenet groups
  • Ask Jeeves a natural language search engine
  • Excite
  • Fast Search
  • Google!, developed at Stanford University
  • HotBot
  • Infoseek
  • Lycos
  • Northern Light
  • Pandia
  • Raging Search, from AltaVista
  • TopClick, a private search engine, without cookies or banners

• Meta-Search Engines searching multiple other search engines
  • All-in-One Search Page a compilation of various forms-based search tools found on the Internet
  • Bighub.com (was The Internet Sleuth) with links to subject-specific search engines
  • CNET Search.com (was Colorado State's SavvySearch)
  • CUSI Services home base, with an international list of mirror sites for CUSI; an amalgamation of many other Web search pages
  • ixquick.com meta-searcher using relevancy ranking
  • Mamma parallel search engine
  • MetaCrawler from Go2Net Network
  • qbSearch

• Specialized Search Engines
  • Archie to locate files on Anonymous FTP sites
  • Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-conferences by Diane Kovacs; for listservs and other electronic mail lists
  • ditto.com, a Web search engine for graphics and photos
  • FAQ Finder
  • Filez, to search for files (freeware, shareware, etc.)
  • Forum One searches online forum discussions
  • Google Groups, for searching Usenet
  • InvisibleWeb.com, a search engine of search engines
  • LibraryLand, with indexing/search service of major sites dedicated to the practice of librarianship
  • Listserv List & Searcher from tile.net
  • Liszt : Searchable Directory of Email Discussion Groups
  • NetNames USA, to find domain name information
  • Pandia Newsfinder
  • Search Engine Colossus, an international directory; for area-specific searches
  • Search Engines Worldwide, listing search engines by country and regions
  • SearcheBooks.com, Internet search engine limited to ebook Web sites
  • SearchEdu.com, Internet search engine limited to university and education related web sites
  • SearchEngineGuide.Com: The Guide to Search Engines, Portals, and Directories; for finding more specialized sites
  • SearchGov.com, Internet search engine limited to government web sites
  • SearchMil.com, Internet search engine limited to military web sites
  • Web Search from About.com; to locate industry- or subject-specific search engines

SUBJECT TREES and ELECTRONIC BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• Structures Based on Traditional Forms of Library Classification
  • BUBL LINK by Dewey Class
  • CyberDewey by David A. Mundie; Internet resources organized using Dewey Decimal Classification codes
  • CyberStacks, organizing Web sites using Library of Congress classification, by Gerry McKiernan, Iowa State University Library
  • DutchESS, Dutch Electronic Subject Service, classified according to the Nederlandse Basisclassificatie (Dutch Basic Classification)
  • Scout Report Signpost, a searchable, annotated, cataloged and LC Classified collection of highly selective resources
  • Suite101.com: Best-of-Web Directory, organized using Dewey
  • The Virtual Reference Desk, an academic research guide organized using LC Classification by Christopher C. Brown
  • See also: Beyond Bookmarks: Schemes for Organizing the Web by Gerry McKiernan

• Other Forms of Classification
  • About.com, topical guides edited by subject specialists
  • Academic Info, a subject directory of Internet resources tailored to the university community; by Mike Madin
  • AlphaSearch - Gateway to the "Academic" Web, subject ordered and searchable gateway to selected topical gateways; from the Heckman Library, Calvin College
  • The Argus Clearinghouse (formerly Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides from Univeristy of Michigan Library and SILS); textual subject bibliographies with academic focus; has search capabilities
  • eBLAST : Encyclopædia Britannica's Internet Guide
  • Google Web Directory
  • INFOMINE; organized access to significant university level research and educational tools on the Internet
  • Librarians' Index to the Internet, Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE
  • The WWW Virtual Library Subject Catalogue, the oldest catalog of the Web, started by Tim Berners-Lee
  • Yahoo

ADDRESS and TELEPHONE SEARCH ENGINES

• Web Search Reference, an easy-to-use international gateway that chooses the most appropriate address and telephone search engine according to need

• AnyWho, for residential, business, and government telephone numbers, fax numbers, reverse telephone search ,email addresses and toll-free numbers
• InfoSpace.com for residential and business telephone numbers, faxes, and reverse lookup for telephone, address and email,plus other information such as city guides
• Internet Address Finder for email address and reverse email search
• Switchboard for residential and business telephone numbers, addresses, zip codes, email addresses, plus "What's Nearby?" for restaurants, stores, etc. in the area
• WhoWhere? for residential and business telephone numbers and email addresses, plus other information such as genealogy search
• Yahoo People Search (merged with Four11 Directory)for residential telephone numbers, addresses and email, plus links to maps and will search old email addresses

SEARCH REVIEWS

• BotSpot: The Spot for all Bots on the Net, with thorough information on bots and Internet agents (also known as worms, spiders, robots, etc.)
• Search Engine Showdown, with summaries, strategies, statistics and reviews, by Greg Notess
• Search Engine Watch
• Search Insider from LEO (Librarians and Educators Online)
• Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals includes some full-text articles from the print version