Student Resources

Using Computers and Internet Resources

Internet Search Services

The search engines and white and yellow page services listed below will help you quickly navigate through the Web and find information about people and businesses.

Most of the listed search engines allow you to perform advanced searches with Boolean operators, and many offer power searches that limit or expand your search topics or searchable resources. The listed white and yellow page services allow you to enter any information about a person or business into a form, and then the information is compared with database listings.

To get the most out of your Web search, you may want to search topics through more than one service. For instance, you might want to search for "rhetoric and composition" on both Yahoo, an index of submitted sites, and Infoseek, a guide that is created through both human submission and automated bots that search for relevant sites to index. If you are looking for a friend or relative, you might try several of the people-finding services since they tend to offer different search functions and coverage.

Search Engines

Below you will find a listing of, and hotlinks to, current Internet search engines. To find out more about these sites, visit Search Engine Watch to read search engine reviews or practise searching with a Search Tutorial. For more tips on searching, explore The Spider's Apprentice.

Alta Vista
Alta Vista claims to be the largest and fastest search engine on the Net. Search the World Wide Web and Usenet databases through keyword searches.

Alta Vista Canada
Designed specifically for Canadian Internet users, this powerful search engine offers access to more than 14 million pages of Canadian Web content.

Canada.com
Southam Newspapers’ site offers visitors the choice of searching for only Canadian Web pages and Canadian news stories.

DejaNews
Perform one- or two-part searches of the World Wide Web and Usenet databases through DejaNews.

Excite
Created through multiple bot searches, Excite is one of the most complete and up-to-date guides on the Net. Along with keyword searches, Excite provides concept searches (looking for words related to those entered in a query) and allows you to find information on the World Wide Web, in Usenet databases, and classified ads. But do note that to perform Boolean searches, Boolean operators (AND, AND/OR, NOT) must be capitalized.

HotBot
HotBot searches millions of Web pages and even analyzes how often particular pages change to recommend how often you should visit a page. This search engine performs keyword searches on the World Wide Web only, but searches can be modified with "must contain" and similar phrases and can be restricted to a particular domain or suffix. In addition, drop-down boxes (accessed from tabs on the left-hand side of the screen) give newbies an alternative to typing Boolean search strings.

Infoseek
Infoseek provides keyword and phrase or question searches of the World Wide Web and Usenet databases, and automatically offers related topic options to further your search. An Ultraseek option allows you to search for images and can count and list the number of pages within a particular domain or under a particular title. Do note that Infoseek does not recognize the usual Boolean operators but, instead, uses (+) or (-).

LookSmart
Sponsored by Reader's Digest Inc., LookSmart scans 30 million Web sites and 4 million newsgroups when you use keywords to search or explore subject listings.

Lycos
This engine resembles Yahoo in its ever-evolving emphasis on subject indexing. However, Lycos allows you to search the World Wide Web, Gopher, and FTP through concept searches (related word searches), and you can custom search or expand your search to sound and image files by choosing the Sound and Picture icons.

Magellan
Browse the subject directory, or search the World Wide Web by keyword.

Maple Square
Maple Square, also known as AOL Canada NetFind, concentrates on searching for Canadian online content. Links include The Canuck Site of the Day and special-event features such as RRSP, taxes, and major news stories (such as the Great Ice Storm of 1998).

Webcrawler
Webcrawler allows keyword searches of key sites on the World Wide Web and Usenet databases. Expand your search to related topics by clicking on the Webcrawler icon; limit your search to reviewed sites and your responses to title only; or explore a random site automatically selected from the index.

Yahoo
Yahoo is unique because it is a subject index of World Wide Web sites, all of which were submitted to Yahoo by their creators, that also allow you to perform keyword searches of the Yahoo Index, Usenet, Usenet FAQs, and e-mail addresses. You can limit your search according to the age of sites, explore the top sites of the week (indicated with a sunglasses icon) or local editions of Yahoo; or forward your searches to other search services, such as AltaVista and Infoseek.

Yahoo Canada
Yahoo Canada uses the same structure as its American counterpart but also allows you to limit your search to Canadian sites.

White and Yellow Pages

Many of the people-finding services listed below allow you to register your own e-mail information so that your friends can find you. Although most of these services claim that they do not sell your personal information to any companies, be aware that your personal information may not be guarded against hackers. Choose wisely the information that you submit.

Big Foot
Find the e-mail addresses and other contact information for people on the Net.

BigYellow
Along with several other services, BigYellow allows you to find information about people and businesses in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and North and South America.

Canada.Com
A commercial site that allows visitors to search the entire Web or limit themselves to Canadian sites only.

Canada411
Here one finds ten million Canadian phone listings and postal codes for individuals or businesses.

Canada Yellow Pages
Business listings across Canada.

Four11
Search for the e-mail addresses, personal addresses, personal Web pages, and phone numbers of friends and relatives by entering the person's name and any other personal information available.

GTE Superpages
Locate business on the World Wide Web as well as addresses and phone numbers of businesses across the country.

WhoWhere?
Access e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and addresses of Internet users through this easy-to-use search engine.

World Pages
This global directory allows you to search for information on people, businesses, and government listings worldwide.