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| This list offers 100 tips and tools to help you get the most out of your Internet searches. |
Meta-Search Engines
Meta-search engines use the resources of many different search engines to gather the most results possible. Many of these will also eliminate duplicates and classify results to enhance your search experience.
- SurfWax. This search engine works very well for reaching deep into the web for information.
- Academic Index. Created by the former chair of Texas Association of School Librarians, this meta-search engine only pulls from databases and resources that are approved by librarians and educators.
- Clusty. Clusty searches through top search engines, then clusters the results so that information that may have been hidden deep in the search results is now readily available.
- Dogpile. Dogpile searches rely on several top search engines for the results then removes duplicates and strives to present only relevant results.
- Turbo 10. This meta-search engine is specifically designed to search the deep web for information.
- Multiple Search. Save yourself the work by using this search engine that looks among major search engines, social networks, flickr, Wikipedia, and many more sites.
- Mamma. Click on the Power Search option to customize your search experience with this meta-search engine.
- World Curry Guide. This meta-search tool with a strong European influence has been around since 1997 and is still growing strong.
- Fazzle.com. Give this meta-search engine a try. It accesses a large number of databases and claims to have more access to information than Google.
- Icerocket. Search blogs as well as the general Internet, MySpace, the news, and more to receive results by posting date.
- iZito. Get results from a variety of major search engines that come to you clustered in groups. You can also receive only US website results or receive results with a more international perspective.
- Ujiko. This unusual meta-search tool allows for you to customize your searches by eliminating results or tagging some as favorites.
Semantic Search Tools and Databases
Semantic search tools depend on replicating the way the human brain thinks and categorizes information to ensure more relevant searches. Give some of these semantic tools and databases a try.
- Hakia. This popular semantic search engine only accesses websites that are recommended by librarians.
- Zotero. Firefox users will like this add-on that helps you organize your research material by collecting, managing, and citing any references from Internet research.
- Freebase. This community-powered database includes information on millions of topics.
- Powerset. Enter a topic, phrase, or question to find information from Wikipedia with this semantic application.
- Kartoo. Enter any keyword to receive a visual map of the topics that pertain to your keyword. Hover your mouse over each to get a thumbnail of the website.
- DBpedia. Another Wikipedia resource, ask complex questions with this semantic program to get results from within Wikipedia.
- Quintura. Entering your search term will create a cloud of related terms as well as a list of links. Hover over one of the words or phrases in the cloud to get an entirely different list of links.
- [true knowledge]. Help with current beta testing at this search engine or try their Quiz Bot that finds answers to your questions.
- Stumpedia. This search engine relies on its users to index, organize, and review information coming from the Internet.
- Evri. This search engine provides you with highly relevant results from articles, papers, blogs, images, audio, and video on the Internet.
- Gnod. When you search for books, music, movies and people on this search engine, it remembers your interests and focuses the search results in that direction.
- Boxxet. Search for what interests you and you will get results from the "best of" news, blogs, videos, photos, and more. Type in your keyword and in addition to the latest news on the topic, you will also receive search results, online collections, and more.
General Search Engines and Databases
These databases and search engines for databases will provide information from places on the Internet most typical search engines cannot.
- DeepDyve. One of the newest search engines specifically targeted at exploring the deep web, this one is available after you sign up for a free membership.
- OAIster. Search for digital items with this tool that provides 12 million resources from over 800 repositories.
- direct search. Search through all the direct search databases or select a specific one with this tool.
- CloserLook Search. Search for information on health, drugs and medicine, city guides, company profiles, and Canadian airfares with this customized search engine that specializes in the deep web.
- Northern Light Search. Find information with the quick search or browse through other search tools here.
- Yahoo! Search Subscriptions. Use this tool to combine a search on Yahoo! with searches in journals where you have subscriptions such as Wall Street Journal and New England Journal of Medicine.
- CompletePlanet. With over 70,000 databases and search engines at its disposal, this is an excellent resource for searching the deep web.
- The Scout Archives. This database is the culmination of nine years’ worth of compiling the best of the Internet.
- Daylife. Find news with this site that offers some of the best global news stories along with photos, articles, quotes, and more.
- Silobreaker. This tool shows how news and people in the news impacts the global culture with current news stories, corresponding maps, graphs of trends, networks of related people or topics, fact sheets, and more.
- spock. Find anyone on the web who might not normally show up on the surface web through blogs, pictures, social networks, and websites here.
- The Virtual Library. One of the oldest databases of information available on the web, this site allows you to search by keyword or category.
- pipl. Specifically designed for searching the deep web for people, this search engine claims to be the most powerful for finding someone.
Academic Search Engines and Databases
The world of academia has many databases not accessible by Google and Yahoo!, so give these databases and search engines a try if you need scholarly information.
- Google Scholar. Find information among academic journals with this tool.
- WorldCat. Use this tool to find items in libraries including books, CDs, DVDs, and articles.
- getCITED. This database of academic journal articles and book chapters also includes a discussion forum.
- Microsoft Libra. If you are searching for computer science academic research, then Libra will help you find what you need.
- BASE – Bielefeld Academic Search Engine. This multi-disciplinary search engine focuses on academic research and is available in German, Polish, and Spanish as well as English.
- yovisto. This search engine is an academic video search tool that provides lectures and more.
- AJOL – African Journals Online. Search academic research published in AJOL with this search engine.
- HighWire Press. From Stanford, use this tool to access thousands of peer-reviewed journals and full-text articles.
- MetaPress. This tool claims to be the "world’s largest scholarly content host" and provides results from journals, books, reference material, and more.
- OpenJ-Gate. Access over 4500 open journals with this tool that allows you to restrict your search to peer-reviewed journals or professional and industry journals.
- Directory of Open Access Journals. This journal search tool provides access to over 3700 top "quality controlled" journals.
- Intute. The resources here are all hand-selected and specifically for education and research purposes.
- Virtual Learning Resource Center. This tool provides links to thousands of academic research sites to help students at any level find the best information for their Internet research projects.
- Gateway to 21st Century Skills. This resource for educators is sponsored by the US Department of Education and provides information from a variety of places on the Internet.
- MagBot. This search engine provides journal and magazine articles on topics relevant to students and their teachers.
- Michigan eLibrary. Find full-text articles as well as specialized databases available for searching.
Scientific Search Engines and Databases
The scientific community keeps many databases that can provide a huge amount of information but may not show up in searches through an ordinary search engine. Check these out to see if you can find what you need to know.
- Science.gov. This search engine offers specific categories including agriculture and food, biology and nature, Earth and ocean sciences, health and medicine, and more.
- WorldWideScience.org. Search for science information with this connection to international science databases and portals.
- CiteSeer.IST. This search engine and digital library will help you find information within scientific literature.
- Scirus. This science search engine moves beyond journal articles and also includes searches among such resources as scientists’ webpages, course ware, patents, and more.
- Scopus. Find academic information among science, technology, medicine, and social science categories.
- GoPubMed. Search for bio medical texts with this search engine that accesses PubMed articles.
- the Gene Ontology. Search the Gene Ontology database for genes, proteins, or Gene Ontology terms.
- PubFocus. This search engine searches Medline and PubMed for information on articles, authors, and publishing trends.
- Scitopia. This "deep federated search" brings the best information from the fields of science and technology.
- Scitation. Find over one million scientific papers from journals, conferences, magazines, and other sources with this tool.
Custom Search Engines
Custom search engines narrow your focus and eliminate quite a bit of the extra information usually contained [...] Read more
