Search Engines

This page contains a selection of tools available for searching the Internet

Search Engine Watch is a good source of information.
Phil Bradley has a helpful chart: Finding information: search engines
There are also several online tutorials available.

Each search engine has its strengths. Try several until you find your favourite. My present favourites are Google and Yahoo . However I've found that Yahoo's spider seems faster at indexing than Google's. Yahoo will also identify the links a website provides to others e.g. linkdomain:www.sylviamilne.co.uk

For UK users the UK Based Search Engines will be more specific and often faster. Most of the big search engines will allow you to opt for a UK search only.
If you prefer to look at a subject in several search engines at once, or if your subject is slightly obscure, try a Multiple Search Engine
 

UK Based Search Engines

• Abacho UK
• AllSearchEngines UK
• AltaVista UK
• Ask .com UK Version : formerly Ask Jeeves
• The Big Project: UK Internet Guide/Portal
• BBC Search Engine
• BritishInformation.com
• Clickclick 2
• Directory.co.uk: search 10 UK search engines at once
• Dot UK Directory
• Freesearch: includes image search and British dictionary
• Google UK
• Hotbot UK
• InterSites: UK search engine and directory
• Intute: Internet resources for the learning, teaching, and research community.
• Lycos
• MSN UK
• Northwest UK Search Engine
• Search Thingy
• SearchUno: UK Directory
• Searchy.co.uk
• Virgin Media: Google with extra listings for the UK
• Yahoo. UK and Ireland

UK  Goods and Services

• Google Local
• Scoot: goods and services
• Yahoo Local
• YELL: U.K. related information from Yellow Pages

Single Search Engines and Directories

• Alexa Websearch : includes site information
• AlltheWeb
• AltaVista 
• AOL
• BBC Search
• Bing: MSN search enginr
• Cuil: searches for and ranks pages based on their content and relevance.
• DMOZ: open directory project : directory
• DuckDuckGo: has a useful "which meaning" feature and allows a search on mainly shopping sites and mainly information sites
• Google: sites rated by popularity
• Google Suggest: uses predictive texting to guess what you are typing and offers suggestions.
• Hakia: claims to bring results from credible  sites recommended by librarians
• Librarians' Index to the Internet: directory
• Lycos
• Mahalo: aims to provide specific answers to search queries: includes links to blogs and Twitter
• Netscape Search
• Search Europe 
• Searchme: interesting new search engine that brings up pictures of sites [temporarily unavailable]
• Soople: easy expert search in Google
• Wikia Search: open source search engine
• Wolfram Alpha: computational knowledge engine
• YAHOO : directory

Multiple Search Engines

• Ask .com worldwide : formerly Ask Jeeves: includes Image Searching
• Clusty: clustering search engine
• Dogpile
• Eureka
• Ezilon: European Union International Search Engine and Directory
• Ixquick
• Kartoo: presents its results in map form
• KillerInfo
• Mamma
• MetaCrawler
• MetaEureka: includes site information
• Monstercrawler
• Pandia
• Qksearch
• Search 22 : links to search engines and reference sites
• Search.com
• Turboscout: access 21 search engines without re-typing
• Webs Biggest: directory search engine
• Webscout
• Webcrawler 

Specific Subject Areas

• Biz/ed: business and economics
• Diplomaticnet: the portal for international politics
• EEVL: engineering : now part of Intute
• European Search Engines, Directories and Lists
• Findsounds.com: the search engine for finding sound effects on the web
• Finder Seeker: the search engine for search engines
• Gimpsy: internet directory of services
• History Online
• Human Rights Resources
• Intute: free access to the very best Web resources for education and research.
• Silobreaker: current affairs search engine
• Legal Engine
• PINAKES: A Subject Launchpad
• TimeSearch: search the Web through time

Religion

Buddhism

MavenSearch: Jewish Web directory

Into Islam: Islamic Search Engine & Directory

Sikhism

• Search Engine Colossus: an International Directory of Search Engines with 1033 Listings.
• Search Engines by Country
• YELL: U.K. related information from Yellow Pages

Subject Information Gateways

• BUBL Link 
• Digital Librarian: maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson, a librarian in Cortland, New York
• Internet Public Library
• Intute
• OxLIP
• UK Universities Sensitive Map
• World-Wide Web Virtual Library 

Recently added sites

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