S e a r c h    E n g i n e s
 
This page URL: http://www.nationalfinder.com/srchengs/index.htm
Size: 14 A4 pages when printed
Updated: 21 September 2007

Compiled by Roger Harris © 1998-2007
E-mail: srchengs@nationalfinder.com

Search engines are computer programs which will search for information which is stored somewhere on the World-Wide Web. They are comparable to archie, veronica and gopher search programs which provided similar search facilities in the good ol' on-line days long before the World-Wide Web was born.
 
The search engines listed below are in alphabetical order with numerical names listed first. Also included are several sites which are not search engines but which provide quick access to substantial resources about a particular subject.
 
Each search engine maintains its own indexes and the information which you want may not be available from all the search engines. Search engines vary according to the method which they use to process a query. Help pages are sometimes available. Make a paper copy of the pages and keep them to hand when searching.
 
You will need to fill in an on-screen form. This usually takes the form of a small box. Enter the search key into the box. Then click on a nearby button which might be labelled 'search,' 'find' or 'go.'
 
For a given search key a search engine will display all the relevent addresses which are recorded in its indexes. If you want to search only a single address then enter that address and the search key using the following syntax:
site:site_address search_key .
 
Depending upon the search engine chosen, search keys may be as shown below. Possible search results are shown in brackets.

• cats (all kinds of furry cats, but may include CAT scan, Caterpillar Tractor Co., cat-o-nine-tails, gossiping woman, jazz player, jazz fanatic)
• cats AND pharaoh (egyptian cats, temple cats)
• cats OR dogs (large domesticated four-legged furry companion animals :-))
• cats NOT feral (not wild, possibly domestic)
• cats NOT theatre (to avoid references to the theatre production of 'Cats')
• cats AND theatre (if you are stage-struck)
• Use double quotation marks [on the 2 key], eg. "domestic cats", to retrieve texts containing your search key exactly as stated. Add a word to make the search more specific: e.g. "domestic cats" chinese.
• Wildcard (asterisk): cat* will retrieve subjects such as cats, catastrophe, cataract, etc.
• Plus sign: cat +persian will retrieve all items containing 'cat' but will only display those which additionally include 'persian.'
• Minus sign: cat -persian will retrieve all items containing 'cat' but will exclude those containing 'persian.'
• If you are uncertain of the correct spelling then put a tilde [~] as the prefix to the search key, eg. ~piramids if you want to search for pyramids.
• Question marks in a search key, eg. cana??, take the place of letters. The search engine will retrieve words which have the same number of letters, eg.: canada, canals, canard and canary, but will not retrieve canasta. This feature can be very useful in solving crossword puzzles.

If you type in a word then the search engine will first look for similar or related words and will add them to yours before beginning to search. For example, typing in 'dog' should cause the search engine to search for dog, dogs, puppy, pup, canine, hound, cur, bow-wow.
 
Proximity search: If you search with a two- or three-word key then the search engine may find ocurrences of the words near each other instead of adjacent. This is also known as 'Key Word In Context' (KWIC) where key words are displayed in the sentence in which they occur. Sometimes the words may be near each other but in an unexpected order.
 
The search engine may not be able to retrieve any links after processing your search key. You may have to modify the search key a few times to try to get the information you require. A particular search engine may retrieve many items whilst another will retrieve hardly any or none.
 
Some search engines offer the choice of reporting web-site addresses with or without explanatory details. I find that the explanatory details make it easy and quick to decide whether to look at the site. It is also worth reading the explanatory details for at least the first fifty or sixty web-sites. You are likely to find many references beyond the first ten. You are also likely to find references to other useful things; the 'serendipity factor' should not be ignored - see Slider.com below for its extensive alphabetical lists of topics which supplement the usual keyword searches.
 
Some ingenuity and lots of patience will also be helpful.
 
If you have a web-site of your own and wish to have its existence noted by search engines then you should go to those search engines in the list which accept URL's. This feature is noted, where applicable, in column two, below. Usually there will be a clickable button near the bottom of the home-page bearing the legend 'add site,' 'add URL,' 'submit site,' or 'submit URL.' Most search engines offer a free submission service although some charge between £15 and £600.
 
Before submitting your web-site address you should ensure that the <HEAD> section of the home-page HTML coding contains a keywords META tag.
 
Type in the address and a few other details and then wait for a few days or weeks or months. Generally, you can check whether your site has been indexed by getting the search engine to search for your site's web-address.

A few URLs in the list below are too long to fit into the space available. Parts of the visible link have been replaced by ~~ while the underlying link is fully specified.

http://google.netscape.com

Germany: http://www.google.de
Denmark: http://www.google.dk
France: http://www.google.fr
United Kingdom: http://www.google.uk
Japan mobile phone: http://www.google.com/imode
newsgroups: http://groups.google.com

Map-related:
United Kingdom postcodes: http://www.royalmail.co.uk/paf/
United Kingdom Road Traffic Reports: http://www.frixo.com