Search the Internet
Large sections of the Internet require subscriptions for access; that is, they are not freely accessible. York University Libraries can provide access to many parts of the subscription-based Internet, including e-journals and e-indexes for finding journal literature. These are key sections of the Internet for finding scholarly materials.
The search tools listed on this page access parts of the public Internet, or what is freely available. No single tool allows you to search the entire public Internet. Rather, you are searching a collection of Web pages that an individual search tool has indexed. Some search tools for accessing the public Internet are:
| General Search Engines return Web pages containing specified keyword(s) or phrases. They are particularly effective when searching a narrow or obscure topic or for multiple concepts…(more info) |
Google Yahoo! Search Ask Jeeves Teoma |
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Internet Subject Directories are collections of Internet resources chosen by site creators or evaluators, arranged into subject categories. They are useful starting points for researching broad topics…(more info) |
Infomine Academic Info BUBL Link Canadian Information by Subject Librarians’ Index to the Internet Google Directory Yahoo! Directory |
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Invisible Web search tools provide access to Web content contained in databases that most search engines will not or can not index for searching. The ‘invisible web’ is estimated to be 2 to 3 times larger than the ‘visible web’…(more info) |
See more info | |
Meta Search Engines submit your search to several general search engines simultaneously. While they may appear to be ideal tools for searching efficiently, they do not offer the sophistication offered by general search engines nor do they necessarily send your search query to top-rated search engines. Not recommended for initial searching…(more info) |
Dogpile Mamma Vivisimo |
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| There are also a number of Specialized Search Tools for finding particular types of information…(more info) | Scirus Google Scholar |
For an overview and analysis of Internet search tools, see Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Showdown.
To become a more effective Internet searcher, complete an Internet Search Tutorial.
Most importantly, remember that there are no controls on what gets published on the Internet, so critically assess anything that you find. For guidance, see Evaluate Internet Resources.
General Search Engines
Searches the largest available body of indexed Web pages. Its ranking technology brings the most popular sites to the top of its hitlists. See Advanced Search and a very helpful Google Cheat Sheet.Yahoo! Search
Second in size to Google, Yahoo! also utilizes ranking technology to bring popular sites to the top of its hitlists. See Advanced Search and Yahoo! Help.Ask Jeeves
Notable primarily for its Smart Search tools that allow you to search more effectively for specific kinds of information. See Advanced Options and Advanced Help.Teoma
In addition to its histlists, Teoma provides suggestions on how to refine your search and lists resources that are human selected. See Advanced Search and Search Tips.
Internet Subject Directories
Infomine
Academic audience. Advanced Search facilitates sophisticated searching. Consulting Search Tips is recommended.Academic Info
Academic audience. Browseable by topic. Please note how Search functions.BUBL Link
Academic audience. Browseable by subject, country, classification code, and content type. Search screen facilitates sophisticated searching.Canadian Information by Subject
General and academic audience. Provides links to information about Canada from Internet sources around the world. Maintained and regularly updated by Library and Archives Canada.Librarians’ Index to the Internet
General Audience.Google Directory
General audience.Yahoo! Directory
General audience.
Key scholarly Web sites may also be listed in the Libraries’ Subject Research Guides.
There are many other subject directories available on the Web, many subject specific. To locate these, use Google or Yahoo! Search and search web directories in addition to your subject term(s). For example: canadian history web directories
Invisible Web
- Watch for mention of databases while in an Internet Subject Directory.
- Search for databases appropriate to your subject area by using a General Search Engine such as Google or Yahoo! Search. Add the term database to your subject term(s). For example: first nations canada database
- There are two directories of searchable databases:
Meta Search Engines
Dogpile
Currently considered to be the best tool for metasearching since it accesses both Google’s and Yahoo’s databases. Does offer some Advanced Search capabilities.Mamma
Mamma accesses Google’s database in addition to a number of smaller search engine databases. Provides suggested search queries to refine your search. Limited advanced search capabilities provided in Power Search.Vivisimo
Effective because of its ability to cluster your results into subject categories. Very limited searching capabilities.
Specialized Search Tools
These tools are designed to primarily search scholarly literature from the Internet. They are not replacements for the Libraries’ periodical indexes, which are the best tools for searching for scholarly articles on any given academic top (see Find Articles by Subject on the Library homepage). Some results from these tools will request payment to access full-text articles. York University Libraries may already have subscription-based access to these articles, either electronically or in print. Check with Library holdings first and feel free to contact the reference desk if you require assistance.
Scirus
Search engine for scientific information. Indexes Web content from academic organizations, online indexes such as Medline, ScienceDirect , and BioMed Central, as well as commercial and government sites with scientific information.Google Scholar (Beta)
This new search tool by Google is currently in Beta (testing) mode. It is designed to find scholarly literature for a specified keyword search.
