... Recommend this page to a friend.

Reportedly, more than a billion pages are on the Web, and another million added each day. To sift through them, you can choose from about 8,000 search engines, directories, and meta-search sites on the internet. Then add to those the utility programs and online answer services ... so I offer a few suggestions below to make your searching easier. And if you find any links not working, why not take a few seconds to let me know ... I thank you ... and who knows, the world thanks you.

A general suggestion (tip?) for you. When searching on the net, keep in mind that even the information superhighway has ruts. And most of us fall into them.

Wiggle the wheels and climb out of that rut ... Don't use the same search engine or directory every time you go online. It's OK to have a favorite, sure, but if you make all of your searches from just one site, you're missing out. No single site is good at everything ... This one will be better for detail, that one for overviews, another for music clips, etc. So give more search strategies a try, and you'll probably discover that three or four become your regulars.

For better tips, see ... Tips for the Computer ... when done searching.

Search Engines 1 ... these are links to the engines on other pages ... they're on this page.
Search Engines 2 ... a special page of excellent engines ... will even access your hotmail.
Navigator ... this'll take you to places beyong imagination ... says who? ... says me.

37.com ... beautiful page, interesting categories, more than 37 engines ... I recommend
555-1212 - will look up an area code or an entire phone number including some international.
Absolutely Arts ... includes the visual and performing arts, architecture, and literature.
Achoo ... primarily for health care with URL, site name, description, and keyword options.
Adam ... for art history, including: fine arts, design, architecture, applied arts, and media.
American Memory Collections ... entries are alphabetized by keywords or by title.
American School Directory ... name the school, give the state ... and there's the website.
Answers ... and if you get too many results, you can switch to "Powersearch."
Any Who ... even has an option that lets you attempt to trace even a partial phone number.
AOL.COM ... fairly good, the first ten links are those that most closely match your request.
Art Resources ... visual and performing arts: dance, opera, theater, literature, and more.
AT&T Directory - find a person, business, phone number, toll-free number, or a website.
BarPoint.com ... is a "product-specific search engine." You enter the 12- or 13-digit UPC (Universal Product Code) barcode of any item into the site and receive in return prices, reviews, and chances to buy that product from some of the 350 different affiliated stores.
Bess ... a little "internet retriver" trained to bring back information that will interest kids.
Bibliofind ... searches through the used and rare books of booksellers in many countries.
Big Book Yellow Pages ... enter category or name ... and state (city optional).
Biography ... great lives; enter a name to discover who they were, what they did, and why.
BotSpot ... finely tuned and able to adapt to your needs and learn from previous retrievals.
Blast ... Britannica's editors rate and review the Web's best sites for you.
Catalog Site ... there's a specialty catalog for anything you want ... this is how you find it.
Classifieds 2000 ... whatever can be bought for money ... including roomates and dates.
Clearinghouse ... doesn't force you to browse through categories. You may choose instead to click the Search/Browse link and then enter a keyword for direct and immediate searching. This approach works in much the same way as other keyword search engines, where you can add Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and parentheses to more closely determine what is included and what is excluded from your results list.
Comfind Information ... use business or company name ... or just plain browse.
Country Code ... ever wonder in what country that web site you found was?
CyberSleuths ... a K-12 homework helper with many references and a search engine.
Discreet Research ... helps you dig through public records. It brings you to motor vehicle records, license verifications, county and metro criminal records, warrant and prison records, and other civil paperwork ... sorry, there's a charge for this one.
Dmoz - allows you to limit your subject to a choice of categories ... very effective.
Developer.com ... applets, scripts, white papers and more, all categorized by technology.
Direct Search ... like opening up a chest and discovering that it's packed full of delights.
Ditto.com - devoted to helping you retrieve thumbnail and enlargeable images from the net.
E-Blast ... editors of Britannica chose this as the leading search engine ... I'm not sure why.
E-Tour - select your interests and hobbies, and etour brings them to you each time you visit.
European Directories ... search by country, or use any text or the categories listed.
Exact One ... sort of a search engine and sort of a "bot." You can use it for free to find services, jobs, photos, movies, music, books, cars, auctions, computers, toys, or people on the Internet. Instead of searching web pages, ExactOne searches the dynamic databases behind websites. And it can compare the results with their prices, shipping schedules and costs, inventory status, and photos. Suggestion: Get right over to "query demo" for results.
Excite ... tailored for teachers, kids, teens, parents, librarians, and community.
Exempt Organizations ... find out if an organizations is tax-exempt and to what extent.
Fast FTP ... an FTP search engine ... when needing files, this page can come in very handy.
Fast SearchP ... a search engine with the ultimate goal of searching the entire web.
Federal Web Locator ... one stop shopping point for federal government info on the WWW.
FetchOmatic ... is a geographic search engine for businesses. You can hunt through its list by name or category. Because you also specify a Zip Code or city, you can make sure the businesses that pop up are within a limited local area or region in the U.S. or Canada.
Finance ... it's free, all you do is register and make full use of the potential in this site.
Finding Data … here's where you'll learn the right places to look ... cast your line and pull.
FindSame … paste text or a URL in a box and it will show you where on the web any piece of that text or page appears ... strange but my own pages aren't listed anyplace ... oh well.
Fish Search … a tool that helps you find information on all aspects of fish and fishing.
Flag Services … vexilogists rejoice ... all the information you might want to know about flags.
FTP Find … files of a particular type (sound movies, pics), or for a particular system.
FTP Search … find software (EXE, ZIP), music (MP3, MIDI) and pictures (JPG, GIF).
Gardening - has a summary of what gardeners should be working on in different climates.
GeoCities ... have to include my main man ... after all, someone's paying the bill for this site :)
Gerry Boyd ... so this is how he gets all his answers for PCWorks ... almost as good as mine.
Google ... excellent engine which is in fact named after "googol," or 10 to the 100th power.
GoTo.com ... type what you're looking for and click "Find It" ... that's what it says.
Help.com ... has answers, tips, tutorials, explanations, and these are divided into hardware, consumer electronics, internet, software, games, and web-building categories.
Highway 61 ... interesting engine ... you have some extra control over the way it functions.
Historical Text ... browse by region or topic, or use the search engine to find specifics.
Homepage ... full name, and e-mail address might get you his or her personal homepage.
Hoover's Online ... this is a Company/Corporate/Business information search engine.
HyperSeek ... it says: meticulously maintained by some of the best working in cyberspace.
InfoSpace ... global directory of telephone, e-mail, and fax numbers and addresses.
IDG ... product information, up-to-the-minute news, and features on technology areas.
International ... select a country, then select the desired service, then click on Search.
Internet Address Finder ... search for user by name ... wildcards ("*") are allowed.
Internet Tools ... phone numbers, addresses, stock quotes, package tracking, and more.
Kids Only ... provides a safe, age-appropriate environment appealing to both kids & parents.
Local Eyes ... if you need a pizza in Seattle, why be looking in New Jersey ... search locally.
Lycos Research ... power search ... encylopedia ... dictionary ... and world news.
Mamma.com ... bills itself as the "mother of all search engines" ... it's really a meta-search.
Media Links ... searches for newspapers, magazines, radio shows, TV shows, and city guides.
Missing Kids - nothing facetious - I include it as a search engine - a serious matter.
Movie Database - movies, actors, producers, writers, filmography, awards, plot summaries, trivia, box office grosses, and everyone who was involved in the making of that movie.
MSN - microsoft's contribution to searching ... includes access to you hotmail account.
Netcenter ... Netscape's contribution to search engines, and it's a good one.
Net Find … a search engine that links only to sites that are safe for kids ... that's right.
NetPartners … if your work requires keeping tabs on websites of international companies.
NewHoo … presently part of the "open directory project" (yahoo?), allows for interacting.
NewsLink … search articles, text, newspapers, magazines, or content ... in any location.
Northern Light Geosearch … you specify a place in the U.S. or Canada -- by Street, City, State, Province, Zip Code, Area Code -- and a radius from that place -- from 1 to 100 miles. Then you can type details to find a business, service, activity, hospital, museum, restaurant, or summer camp within that circle.
Open Directory … its 1.5 million site descriptions are surprisingly accurate and up to date.
PC Beacon ... here you can look up a business or list your own for others to find.
PC Webopaedia ... online encyclopedia and search engine dedicated to computer technology.
Peel ... if you are in the 18-30 age group, or wish you were, you might take a look at this site.
People Search ... name, city, state, and country ... you get phone#, house and e-mail addy.
Pilot Search ... provides access to the vast quantity of information about literature.
Political Information ...over 4,000 carefully chosen political and policy websites.
Powerize ... a general search ... or search by company name, product name, or ticker symbol.
Profusion ... here we have 9 search engines working for us at the same time.
Pong PC World ... here's the place to learn what all those geeky, techo computer terms mean.
Raging Search ... refreshing to find an engine with nothing more than a logo and an input box.
RefDesk ... regular search engine, plus weather search, plus stock quotes, plus great links.
ResearchIndex ... you'll be reminded of Boolean basics before the form is presented.

In the following, enter a phone# and you get the address, map, and if you want, directions to get there (knock-knock; look who's here). In many cases, if address is known, leaving out the street number will give you the names and addresses of all the residents on the block. Used to be illegal, and I still think it's dangerous.
Only works for listed numbers.

Reverse Lookup 1 - internet oracle ... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 2 - Go 555 ... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 3 - info space reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 4 - freeality internet search ... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 5 - FindLaw ... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 6 - AnyWho (accepts partial numbers)... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup 7 - Netscape ... reverse lookup.
Reverse Lookup in Canada - can't forget the gang up north.

Review Finder ... reviews on market products ... better yet, don't buy it and save the $$$.
Right Stuff ... not exactly a search engine, but this is where ivy leaguers meet ivy leaguers.
SavvySearch ... site is designed to query multiple internet search engines simultaneously.
Search … excellent engine for children with easy-to-read summaries of the sites it picks.
Search Engine ... that's all it's called; it's good ... you can use key words, matches, and case.
Search Engine Watch ... no longer have to get a kazillion returns from your search engines.
Searchopolis ... is a filtered search engine: it leaves out the stuff that many parents don't want their children seeing ... Because it's aimed at school-agers, there are other features students can use, including a grade-checker, calendar, and virtual locker.
Search the List of Lists ... special interest group e-mail lists (also known as listservs).
Search Tools - quick access to ten search engines, directories, and meta-search services.
Shareware - sharing is fun - good source for graphic viewer add-ins and other applications.
Showdown - teaches you searching strategies, and has mountains of search data and stats.
Sports Search - baseball and basketball; you type a question and search gives the answer.
Switchboard ... locate sites related to a topic; or type in a keyword; or click on a topic.
Stroud's Applications ... plenty of programs ... excellent viewers ... note the cross linking.
Sun and Moon Data ... finds the sunrise and sunset for any location on earth ... for any date.
Switchboard ... another excellent way to find people or businesses from the internet.
Telephone Directories ... yellow & white pages, businesses, email adds, and fax listings.
The List ... find an ISP that offers speed and services that satisfy your needs and budget.
The Straight Dope ... combination search engine and linkage to very interesting topics.
The Ultimate ... white and yellow pages, trip planner, and email directory all wrapped in one.
Time Zone Converter ... put this technology on your wrist, and you'd be a real hit at parties.
Trivia ... use search box or you can browse for facts through subject categories.
UCSTRI ... rhymes with Spruce Tree ... an effective method for finding technical reports.
UNCAT ... UNCATaloged titles that help you locate information not usually cataloged.
US Surnames ... shows you the distribution of any of 50,000 surnames by state.
Webgator ... a directory of public records info that investigators might use to locate people.
WebBrain.com ... lines show the hierarchy in the graphical display. When you've drilled down far enough in the hierarchy, a list of actual sites appears below the graphics. And all along, you have a search line where you can type a search term and click Go, affecting both the list below and the graphic hierarchy above.
Webliography ... collection of annotated listings to guide you to the resources you need.
WebRing ... this is a way of connecting web sites of similar interests ... ring? get it?.
What People Search For ... a glimpse at some of the searches the great public is making.
What-U-Seek ... best viewed in 800 x 600 resolution or greater ... it has many colors.
WWW Virtual Library ... Web subject catalog of links (recommended).
WhoIs.net ... lets you know who's who among the currently registered com, net, and org domain names, as well as the "on hold" and those that have been deleted. Just type the name and click to the organization that owns the domain, along with its address, administrative and technical contacts, and current host servers. If you're interested in gaining the name for your own work, the contacts include phone numbers and e-mail addresses so that you can learn if the current owners are willing to transfer.
Yahooligans ... this is Yahoo for the young ones ... the index is perfect for school age.
Yep.com provides search results based on quality and how often the sites are updated.
Yureka ... first engine to say "Yureka, I found it" ... but shouldn't they spell it Eureka?
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Just a passing thought: To do a quick Web search, type Search and the word or phrase in the URL location bar. While this search is not as powerful or exhaustive as one of the big-name search engines, you may find it helpful for performing searches on simple keywords.

Here's another cute trick; you can quickly find out what's going on in your town by typing the word zip followed by your zip code in the URL location bar (no spaces). I'm not sure it works for all zips, but you might give it a try.