Search Engines & On-line Databases
Search Engines - Ratings & Utilities - E-mail Search Sites
Phone/Postal Code Searches - Other Information Indexes
Search Engines
Helping You to Find it on the Web
There are millions and millions of Websites on the Internet. Search engines evolved to help you locate the information you want.
- Google (Get the Google Browser Buttons).
- HotBot.
- Yahoo! or Yahoo! Canada.
- Alta Vista.
- Ask.com.
- WebCrawler.
- Dogpile - Good Dog. Great Results.™
Adding Your Site
To get your Website linked, click on the Help menu for the search engine you wish to list your site with. Each search engine has a different method for submitting new sites for inclusion.
Search Tools For Your Site
If your site contains more than just a few pages, you might wish to consider adding a search facility for your site. While the major search engines can do an excellent job of providing a listing of relevant pages on your site, you might wish to keep visitors on your site as they search for something there rather than sending them off to compare your pages with your competitor's site.
- SearchTools.com lists and ranks search tools for Web sites and intranets.
Search Ratings & Utilities
Rating Search Engines
The "best" search engine depends upon the type of search you are conducting.
- Search Engine Ratings and Reviews shows how search engines are performing in various areas.
- The Spider's Apprentice - a helpful guide To Web search engines.
- Search Engine Optimization - shows how the various search engines are interlinked (get the PDF version here).
Search Engine Utilities
Toolbars
Toolbars and similar add-ins require minor installation, but work as part of your browser's interface. While convenient, you might want to consider what privacy information you are giving up in exchange for the use of these tools.
Check the search engine sites and look for "toolbars" or "tools" or "more" for such utilities. Many of the search engines either have such tools or are developing them.
One of the more recent tools is a desktop search that will allow you to search your own files (including e-mail and MS Office documents).
Multi-Search Software
This utility requires installation, but will use all the search engines at once to find your information.
- Copernic Agent is Windows software that interfaces with multiple search engines to search many at one time. It requires Internet Explorer 5 or better.
E-mail Search Sites:
These sites have some free information searches and some that you need to pay for. The rise in concerns about privacy are having an effect on what is available for free.
- Bigfoot (Multi-country and multi-language searches).
- Yahoo! People Search (Both telephone and e-mail listings).
- InfoSpace (US name and address records, phone records, marriage records, divorce records, death records, real property records, and DEA registrants).
- Internet Address Finder (Search by name or e-mail address).
- WhoWhere (Both telephone and e-mail listings).
- World E-mail Directory (E-mail listings for outside North America).
Phone/Postal Code Search Sites
You can register your phone numbers with Canada's National Do Not Call List. Canadian registered charities, political parties, and candidates are still allowed to call for donations and there are some other exceptions.
Other Information Indexes
- Russ Harvey's Medical Links includes excellent indexes to professional medical journals on-line, nutrition and alternative health sites, toxic substances information sites and hospital links.
- Virtual Canadian Law Library.
- Dictionaries & Encyclopedias.
- About.com.
- Howstuffworks.
www.RussHarvey.bc.ca/resources/search.html
Updated: November 14, 2008
