Jim Rittenhouse's Search area

The Internet is full of search engines of one kind or another, and I've tried to collect the ones that I think work best with the least trouble. Please note that you should NEVER rely on just one type. I usually use the top strip of quick-hit search engines.

GENERAL SEARCH DEVICES: Most use a word or set of words, and they all work differently. Note that you can't guess wildly with these very well. You must have an applicable word that is distinct and specil to your search.

WEB SUBJECT/TOPIC SEARCHES:

Many of the most popular search pages (especially there, which are more topically arranged) ended up one-stop-shopping web portals. You may like 'em. I don't. The best of these are Yahoo and About.com, which tries to organize the web like a big dictionary.

FINDING PEOPLE:

FILES ON THE INTERNET:

If you're looking for a specific file or picture on the Internet, this is becoming easier with the advent of new sites specifically aligned to do this.

For Windows programs, I recommend the following: Download.com, Tucows (internet utilities), Winfiles
For crack-type stuff, try Astalavista or FOSI.
For song lyrics, try
For images, try the new Google Images site.

SPECIAL ARCHIVES ON THE INTERNET:

8/15/2003 was the last date this page was edited by Jim Rittenhouse or someone a lot like him.

Files on the Internet
`FILEZ.COM`	Good general locator of files - both downloadable executable sort and data files.
`DOWNLOAD.COM`	Courtesy of C\|Net, this is a multiple site search device - and it's a lot slower than Filez.
`TUCOWS.COM`	Heavily mirrored site with a wealth of Windows Internet-related software.
Address/Phone/E-mail searches
`WHO/WHERE`	Probably the best of the people finders on e-mail.
`411`	About the same.
`SWITCHBOARD`	Very good for phone numbers and addresses, but includes a lot of older information.
`Yahoo People Search`	Pretty good for addresses - quick and dirty! Related to 411.
`The Ultimate White Pages`	And here's a few more for non-North American phones: `WorldPages,` `NZ Directory Search,` `British Telecom` `-` Good luck.
`American Directory Assistance`	Incredibly nice and deep tracker for people's addresses.
Usenet news searches and Mailing Lists
`DEJANEWS`	Excellent, and the only one of its class aside of the more anemic version in Altavista.
`REFERENCE`	New kid on the bolck - very slow and cluny interface, but it can also search many mailing-lists and listservs, so it's useful for completeness.
`LIZST`	A general list of all mailing lists. See also CataList for LISTSERVs.
The Mixed Bag
FEDWORLD	is an excellent gateway to US Government Information.
`THOMAS`	The Congressional Reference Machine. Also see LEGISLATE or GAO for more info.
CENSUS BUREAU	What you think. All the U.S. Census stuff you can eat. Use FERRET, their special search interface (free registration required).
`Scout Report`	The INTERNIC's listing of the latest REALLY NEAT sites they've found - tend to be scholarly resources, but really good ones.
`British Library`	Online access to their collections and catalogs. Also check this listing of library and information science links and this list of book and library catalog resources on the Internet.
`Ready Reference`	Incredible lisiting of Reference information on the Internet.
`Private-Eye Site`	Article from the NYT site re finding people and information about them on the Internet. Good links and explanations. Also see NAIS.
`American Memory`	Excellent resource for material in the Library of Congress. Search the collection here.
`Hotlist-Chris Cox`	A personal hotlist that works rather well.
`ProFusion`	from the University of Kansas.

Files on the Internet

FILEZ.COM

Good general locator of files - both downloadable executable sort and data files.

DOWNLOAD.COM

Courtesy of C|Net, this is a multiple site search device - and it's a lot slower than Filez.

TUCOWS.COM

Heavily mirrored site with a wealth of Windows Internet-related software.

Address/Phone/E-mail searches

WHO/WHERE

Probably the best of the people finders on e-mail.

411

About the same.

SWITCHBOARD

Very good for phone numbers and addresses, but includes a lot of older information.

Yahoo People Search

Pretty good for addresses - quick and dirty! Related to 411.

The Ultimate White Pages

And here's a few more for non-North American phones: WorldPages, NZ Directory Search, British Telecom - Good luck.

American Directory Assistance

Incredibly nice and deep tracker for people's addresses.

Usenet news searches and Mailing Lists

DEJANEWS

Excellent, and the only one of its class aside of the more anemic version in Altavista.

REFERENCE

New kid on the bolck - very slow and cluny interface, but it can also search many mailing-lists and listservs, so it's useful for completeness.

LIZST

A general list of all mailing lists. See also CataList for LISTSERVs.

The Mixed Bag

FEDWORLD

is an excellent gateway to US Government Information.

THOMAS

The Congressional Reference Machine. Also see LEGISLATE or GAO for more info.

CENSUS BUREAU

What you think. All the U.S. Census stuff you can eat. Use FERRET, their special search interface (free registration required).

Scout Report

The INTERNIC's listing of the latest REALLY NEAT sites they've found - tend to be scholarly resources, but really good ones.

British Library

Online access to their collections and catalogs. Also check this listing of library and information science links and this list of book and library catalog resources on the Internet.

Ready Reference

Incredible lisiting of Reference information on the Internet.

Private-Eye Site

Article from the NYT site re finding people and information about them on the Internet. Good links and explanations. Also see NAIS.

American Memory

Excellent resource for material in the Library of Congress. Search the collection here.

Hotlist-Chris Cox

A personal hotlist that works rather well.

ProFusion

from the University of Kansas.

SEARCH updated 8/15/2003
	contact me
GO2SEARCH \| HOTBOT \| RAGING \| FAST-SEARCH \| GOOGLE \| DOGPILE \| YAHOO \| GOOGLE-GROUPS \| SWITCHBOARD \| The Internet is full of search engines of one kind or another, and I've tried to collect the ones that I think work best with the least trouble. Please note that you should NEVER rely on just one type. I usually use the top strip of quick-hit search engines. GENERAL SEARCH DEVICES: Most use a word or set of words, and they all work differently. Note that you can't guess wildly with these very well. You must have an applicable word that is distinct and specil to your search. Altavista and its much faster sibling Raging are the classics. Try Babelfish for translations. Hotbot is a product of WIRED magazine, and is good for phrases or URL searches. Infoseek, Excite, Lycos and others are decent, but can be searched at once by Go2search or Dogpile. The former has a nicer format. Nicest of the single-set word search sites are Google and Fast-Search, which is and does. Google Groups (formerly Dejanews) is the engine for Usenet searches. WEB SUBJECT/TOPIC SEARCHES: Many of the most popular search pages (especially there, which are more topically arranged) ended up one-stop-shopping web portals. You may like 'em. I don't. The best of these are Yahoo and About.com, which tries to organize the web like a big dictionary. FINDING PEOPLE: FILES ON THE INTERNET: If you're looking for a specific file or picture on the Internet, this is becoming easier with the advent of new sites specifically aligned to do this. For Windows programs, I recommend the following: Download.com, Tucows (internet utilities), Winfiles For crack-type stuff, try Astalavista or FOSI. For song lyrics, try For images, try the new Google Images site. SPECIAL ARCHIVES ON THE INTERNET: Return to: Jim's Home page \| This section's main page \| MG \| AH \| POD \| Search \| News \| Susan \| 8/15/2003 was the last date this page was edited by Jim Rittenhouse or someone a lot like him.