Previous Version                           updated 6/9/2004
Much of this material is based on SearchEngineWatch.com
Search Engines
Metacrawlers
Directories
Subject Guides
Focused Search Engines
Invisible Web
Guides & Tutorials
Note: These links open new browser windows.               Category Overview
Search Engines
  

Tier 1:
Google
Yahoo
Ask Jeeves

Tier 3:
Alta Vista
Gigablast
MSN Search
Note: Ask Jeeves masks the URL of web sites, which are crucial for academic documentation. Go to My Settings on Ask Jeeves to disable this feature.
Metacrawlers
  

Tier 1:
Dogpile
Vivisimo
HotBot


Kartoo
Mamma


Ithaki
MetaCrawler
Note: Metacrawlers search multiple search engines at once, but it is more difficult to refine or narrow a search than with single search engines.
Directories
  

Tier 1:
About.com
DMOZ

Tier 2:
Looksmart
GoGuides
Note: Directories are compiled by people. They tend to offer fewer, but higher quality, results than search engines.
Subject Guides
  

Tier 1:
Infomine
Librarians' Index Refdesk.com

Tier 2:
Academic Info
Voice of the Shuttle (Humanities)
Online Resources (DSKoelling)
Academic Resources (RKoelling)
Library of Congress:
Reading Room
Virtual Reference Shelf
Learning Page
Note: Subject guides are more limited than directories, but they often offer even higher quality results.

Focused Engines

  

News:
Google News
Yahoo News
AllTheWeb News
DayPop

 Specialty:
Speechbot (radio)
Board Reader (discussion boards)
Feedster (web logs)
SearchGov (government)
Note: Focused search engines may return better results for specific areas than general search engines.
Invisible Web
   The Invisible Web Directory
Direct Search
Grey Literature
Search Guides
  Bare Bones 101
Using Google: Tips and Tricks
Search Engine Math
Pandia's 17 Recommendations
How Search Engines Work

   Robert Koelling • Professor of English • Northwest College • Powell, WY 82435