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Search Engines

Search Engines

Sometimes a specialized web search engine can give more useful results than a general one.

Search Engine Showdown evaluates search engines, when to use which one, and more.
Search Engine Watch evaluates search engines.

Infopeople's comparison chart of major search engines

Click for the Directory of Search Engines.

Directory of Search Engines

General Search Engines

A meta-search engine searches using several other search engines.

Advice and How-To
  • About.com explains all kinds of things.
  • Ask Experts.com ask any question & get a self-styled "expert" to answer - which could be worth just what you pay. Use at your own risk.
  • learn2.com online resource for how to do all sorts of stuff (some free, some pay)
  • LibrarySpot simulates the many resources of a library
  • LookSmart has information on many subjects

Art, Graphics & Photos
  • AltaVista Photo Finder This is currently the most comprehensive database of images on the 'net, with the best searching capability.  AltaVista has combined the Corbis photo database with indexed images from the Web to provide millions of images. Although it calls itself a "Photo Finder," there are images of all types. The default setting is to filter, one click turns it off. A search returns up to 12 thumbnails at a time.
  • Arriba Vista annotated graphics catalog from the Mining Company
  • Image Providers Directory
  • ImageSurferCategory List
  • Microsoft Clip Art Gallery
  • Proteus Image Search meta-search AltaVista, Lycos, Yahoo, WebSEEk, Arthur, others, but only one at a time
  • WebSeek A Content-Based Image and Video Search and Catalog Tool for the Web

Books, Videos, Web Sites, more

Use WorldCat to search for what you want in the nearest libraries.
Searches public, academic (college & university), and many school and special libraries.

  • Nearby Libraries this Library's own page of links to libraries within 50 miles of Fort Smith.

Business & Finance

Buying & Consumer Information

Converters & Measurements

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
  • Acronym Finder
  • Britannica Ency.Britannica online with additional content, EBSCO databases links, more
  • Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
  • Free Internet Encyclopedia This is an encyclopedia composed of information available on the Internet. There are two main divisions. The MacroReference contains references to large areas of knowledge, FAQs where available, and pointers to relevant areas of the MicroReference. The MicroReference contains short bits of information and references to specific subjects, sometimes with instructions on finding the specific subject inside a general reference. Each specific subject will reference its general subject in the MacroReference if one is present. ; To expand by saying the same thing slightly differently, the MicroReference is an alphabetically arranged set of links to information while the MacroReference is a thematic arrangement with an index.
  • InfoPlease Almanac
  • On-Line Dictionaries The ultimate Internet directory of dictionaries, more than 800 dictionaries of over 150 different languages. Graphically pleasing, easily navigable, with the following sections: Languages (dozens), Multilingual, Specialized, Thesauri and other Vocabulary Aids; and an index of other Dictionary indexes. Maintained by a Russian/Linguistics professor.
  • OneLook Dictionaries searches multiple dictionaries in one pass.  The ultimate Internet dictionary lookup site. Search more than 500 general and specialized English dictionaries simultaneously, or select the ones you want to search. More than 2 million words now indexed.
  • Whatis.com Hyper-linked definitions of more than 1,000 Internet and computer related terms. All can be browsed or searched. Includes special sections on How the Internet Works; Writing HTML; Software; and Hardware.
  • Wikipedia the controversial experiment in letting everyone contribute to it, with varying degrees of quality and bias, still has some useful information not often found in conventional publications
  • Wordsmyth English Dictionary Thesaurus (WEDT) This is an original standard dictionary-thesaurus of American English with definitions and pronunciations, an integrated thesaurus, and useage examples. A nice feature is the Approximate Search, which will find words that are close in spelling to your word. "It was developed from modern/contemporary sources, on the basis of our own editorial manual. The database has approximately 50,000 headwords, and nearly 13,000 of these have thesaurus (SYN/SIM) entries."
  • World Wide Words There are two main sections at this fascinating site: Articles about the English language, ranging from the vocabulary of lotteries and words for irrational feelings to the slang terms for money and an excellent discussion on what big numbers mean in different countries, and The Word Hoard, words and phrases which have not yet reached most dictionaries. Check out andropause, ebonics, and presenteeism. The author (who is British and contributes to the OED) tries for American, as well as British explanations.
  • WWWebster Dictionary Based on the Merriam-Webster 10th Collegiate edition, 1993. More than 160,000 entries. Each word is accompanied by definition, pronunciation, usage, grammatical function, and a brief etymology. A thesaurus can be queried for similar words, hypertext cross references are available,and return suggested spellings. Search system supports internal wildcards and right hand truncation searching. Includes an extensive pronunciation guide.

Directories & Biography
  • AnyWho This sleek little site powered by AT&T Labs searches for home and biz phones, 1-800 numbers, email addresses, Web sites and has a reverse telephone search.
  • Biography.com A&E Network has crippled limited interface to good bios
  • Congressional Staff Directory
  • Congressional email directory from Webslingerz
  • Literary Market Place Online
  • People Search Search a raft of search engines at once, either by the person’s name or by address, phone number or email address -- and all for free. There’s also an international search option.
  • PubList periodical directory
  • SwitchBoard Search for people, businesses, Web sites, maps and more. With the What's Nearby feature, you plug in address and WhoWhere returns all the restaurants, stores, parks, etcetera in the area. Also reverse searches from phone number or location.
  • Telephone Directories on the Web
  • Who's Alive and Who's Dead A "site that helps you keep track of which famous people have died and which are still alive!" If they're one of the more than 1,700 people listed, you can find out if they are still with us and, if not, when and why they went. Grouped according to the accomplishments for which they are best known, alphabetically, and searchable. Information includes full name, what the person is known for, and reason for death, if known. Maintained by a person with a day job as Director of Technology at an architectural firm.
  • WhoWhere A good little phone, email and site finder. Plus it also has a few cool specialty searches, including a genealogy search, public records search and celebrity search.
  • Yahoo People Search One of the best email searches available. It's advanced option lets you make searches based on domain name, organization tag or even old email addresses.

Education
  • AskERIC education info for teachers, librarians, students, educators, more

Government, Law & Politics
    • American FactFinder get census info; can customize using JavaScript software
    • Business.gov small business grants & loans, business laws, how to start a business, buying surplus property for business
    • Fedworld (US Dept.Commerce) government databases, info, sites
    • FirstGov.gov This site is "the World Wide Web information portal for the United States Federal Government." It serves as the "first resource to find any government information on the Internet, with topics ranging from business and economy to money and benefits to science and technology." Users can search for information using the search engine or browse by the branch of the government; by Interesting Topics; or by Featured Subjects which highlight interesting and timely information. There are links to state and local government information. There are also links to providing online or offline feedback to the government by topics or by agencies.
    • Government Information Locator Service
    • U.S. Gazetteer search by counties, place names, MCDs (Minor Civil Divisions), zip codes to find over 100 demographic measures for an area

    Maps, Geography & Travel

    Music & Video

    Quotations

    Other Resources
    • Everyrule Find rules from etiquette to sports to game shows. Includes various categories of games: computer, casino, kids, board, cards. Each group is searchable, or browse them in alphabetical order. Some links take you to the
      manufacturer's site and require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, but they also provide information about the game such as product recalls, replacement parts, and history of the company. Sports links often take you to the rules portion of the official site, such as the NFL's Digest of Rules. A weekly newsletter, Rules Making News, notes, controversial new policies and rule modifications primarily in sports.
    • Repositories of Primary Sources This site contains links to "over 3,400 Web sites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar." Access is by region or by an alphabetical index of state, province, or country. "The list focuses on actual repositories; therefore virtual collections are excluded." There is also a list of other's lists of archives and repositories.