SearchGuru: The Reference Desk

2007-06-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

Since WordPress decided to kill my blogs hosted with them, I have decided to return to my roots and revamp this blog.

Search Guru is a reference desk for the web. I will be posting interesting and varied websites from Web 2.0 social networks and bookmarking sites, health sites, and directories, to the newest search engines, almanac sites, and other information collection-type sites.

2006-05-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here is a new Links directory, called eSyndiCat. It is new, so there is a lot of room for growth yet. It does require a reciprocal link.

eSyndiCat

2006-05-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is a really interesting blog about Google. There are a number of posts contrasting Google and Yahoo, as well as discussions about Google's successes and failures.

Google Operating System

2006-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Gada is an intensly cool search engine. It allows you to search for terms in blogs, feeds, RSS, web sites, news, Amazon, health, and on and on. It is fast and efficient. I could play with it all day.

gada.be

2006-04-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting blog entry on Game Theory and what it is.

The Everyday EconomistBlog Archive: Game Theory- The Basics

2006-03-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

The place to look for US postal address zip codes.

USPS - ZIP Code Lookup - Search By Address

2006-03-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

You can now search Mars like Google Earth and pinpoint the areas that NASA has explored.

Google Mars

2006-03-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

This is an excellent site for finding U.S. newspapers' websites.

US Newspapers - US Newspaper List

2006-02-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Another pocasting search engine, this lets you search by audio or video.

podscope

2006-01-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

TagWorld looks to be another MySpace, attracting the same crowd of young people thatwant to connect with each other. MySpace tends to have the teenagers and tweens, and TagWorld attracts an older gropup. Still, it looks like another good site for social networking.

TagWorld

2006-01-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

This is an excellent directory, full of sites and information. Take a look at the Weird Sites category.

TurnPike Emporium Directory

2006-01-17T08:04:00.000-08:00

Podcasts are audio or video files that you can download or subscribe to. A lot of Internet radio stations and interviews are now being sent as podcasts. Loomia is a new search engine for both podcasts and videocasts.

Loomia

2005-12-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

Something fun for the holidays.

ITSAWONDERFULINTERNET.COM

2005-12-24T11:13:00.000-08:00

Toon Tracker is the home to lost cartoons. Here you can find the history of Mr. Magoo, Batfink, Gerald McBoing Boing, and other half-forgotten TV toons.
Toon Tracker

2005-12-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

SeekOn is an excellent local search engine for the United States and Canada. It has apparently been blacklisted by Yahoo for no apparent reason.

SeekOn Search System - Local Information for USA and Canada

2005-12-15T12:43:00.000-08:00

Find Target is another meta search engine, covering the larger search engines. You can search by word or category. It also has local search, yellow pages, white pages, images and audio.

FindTarget

2005-10-31T15:13:00.000-08:00

The Turnpike Emporium Directory has an excellent collection of categories. It is quick and very useful.

TurnPike Emporium Directory

2005-10-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

And here is a site where you can report splogs.

Splog Reporter : Cleaning up the blogosphere one splog at a time.

2005-10-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

A nasty new spammer tool rears its ugly head. Spam blogs, or "splogs" are being created by spammers to fool the search engines. This is an excellent article on the subject and also mentions comment spam.

WSJ.com - 'Splogs' Roil Web, and Some Blame Google

2005-10-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Talk about an incredible search engine!! ZoomInfo allows you to search for people and gives you a lot of information. It is excellent for looking yourself up, doing business research, and sales intelligence.

You can also create your own ZoomInfo summary for free. I used it to get rid of the ancient information about me (as a reference librarian many moons ago).

ZoomInfo

2005-10-10T23:36:00.000-07:00

This is a good site to explore Pay-Per-Click search engines.

659 Pay Per Click Search Engines Reviewed

2005-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Rollyo is another twist on social networking. You can customize your own search engine ("searchroll") and share it with others. I've set one up for archaeology called ArchaeoSeek.

ROLLYO

2005-10-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Toogle is even stranger and not for young kids. Here words make up images. It is fun to play with, but not much else.

Toogle Image Search

2005-10-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

A few new tools to play with, Woogle and Toogle. Woogle shows you words and pictures. I tried "a penny for your thoughts", but other metaphors will work.

Woogle - Words in pictures

2005-10-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

JDGO is a very interesting search engine and web directory. I have found results here that are not duplicated elsewhere.

JDGO - Search Engine

2005-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

I just found a great, free tool gives me fingertip access to over 150 search, research and marketing tools AND markets my site for me! The tool is called the Free Traffic Bar and it works with Internet Explorer or FireFox. It works very well on Firefox, but I have not yet tried it on IE.

In addition to better web searching and quick access to online marketing tools (which include tons of information and web sites to help you online), the toolbar also lets you advertise for free right on the toolbars of other members. You automatically generate advertising credits while you surf the web and you get additional credits when people you invite surf the web. It is spyware and adware free! Visit http://tinyurl.com/bxf71 to find out more and claim your 500 free ads!

2005-09-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Google has rolled out its new Blog Search tool.

Google Blog Search

2005-09-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Amidalla is a fun search engine. I am not sure what the little creature is in the righthand corner. You can see what people were searching for day by day here.

amidalla search engine - searchengine

2005-09-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

InfoSniff is a directory that covers just about everything. You can also get the code to put a search box on your site.

Infosniff.com Unleash the power of search engine

2005-09-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

A blog directory that lets you search by category. It currently has over 11,000 web logs in 190 plus categories.

The Blog Directory - Getblogs.com

2005-09-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Wikidweb is a wiki directory for the web. A wiki is sort of a group blog that allows anyone to make posts and corrections. This site is is a free, open directory where anyone can post, and edit links. You do not even need an account.

Main Page - Wikidweb

2005-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

If you are trying to locate someone in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, here are regional message boards, as well as boards form companies and universities.

Hurricane Katrina Message Boards

2005-09-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

BizAhead is an international B2B (business to business) directory.

BizAhead.com Business Directory - business directory, trade directory, business resources

2005-09-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Megri Directory is an Internet Web Directory with a good set of categories and is compiled by human editors who are very selective.

Megri Portal

2005-09-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

One Big Index is what the Open Directory started out to do, but OBI is still on track. This is a human editied directory that has an excellent range of categories.

Index - One Big Index

2005-09-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

Dir One is a web directory organized by words. It is different than most and has a lot of suggestions as to other terms to use. It is also available in Spanish (GuiaWay.com) with Spanish words (might be a great teaching tool).

Free Web Directory

2005-09-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

I get a real kick out of SearchIt. You can see popular searches and recent searches at the top of the page.

SearchIt.com :: Get Results Fast!

2005-08-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

LS Blogs has a wonderful directory for blogs and blog search engines. Ken has now installed a forum, and you can submit blogs as well.

LS Blogs- Blog Search Engine and Blog Directory - Home - Blogging Related Submit or find blogs and blog-sites.

2005-08-30T13:54:00.000-07:00

I used the term today, "at sixes and sevens" and then began to wonder where it had come from. Here is the answer at WorldWideWords.

Questions & Answers: At sixes and sevens

2005-08-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

And, if you want to know what people are searching for, try IceSpy (an uncensored look).

IceSpy

2005-08-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

IceRocket allows you to search blogs as well as the web, images, multimedia, and "Phone pics" which are apparently pictures from people's camera phones.

IceRocket blog search

2005-08-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

John is completing a book about search engines (you can pre-order it from Amazon) titled: The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture. His blog talks about the book and other thoughts.

John Battelle's Searchblog

2005-08-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

Technorati monitors blogs and what is most popular on them. This page gives you all the data is you are interested in current online trends.

Technorati: Popular

2005-08-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

Tinu's blog is an excellent one to read about promoting your web site.

Free Traffic Tips - the blog

2005-08-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

Popdex shows which web sites are the most popular. An interesting snapshot of daily events.

Popdex : the website popularity index

2005-07-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fun site. See what Google thinks of you. Type in your first name, or your whole name and see what comes up.

Googlism

2005-07-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

If you need someone to help trade links on the Web, Brenda Hoffman is one of the best.

Reverend Sassy's Portfolio

2005-07-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Librarians' Index is a marvelous place to find all sorts of sites, all selected by librarians for their freely accessible content.

Librarians' Index to the Internet - lii.org

2005-07-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Search ZA claims to be the "Ultimate South Africa Search Engine." It does appear to be pretty complete.

South Africa Search Engine - Search ZA

2005-07-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

One Big Index is what The Open Directory started out to be (but ODP became corrupted). OBI is a great directory, very complete and fast.

Index - One Big Index

2005-07-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

Deregular is a web directory that is very fast and allows free submissions.

Deregular Website Directory

2005-07-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

An excellent resource for legal information.

The 'Lectric Law Library's Entrance, Welcome & Tour

2005-07-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Abilogic is a business direcotry and is quite useful.

Business Web Directory - AbiLogic

2005-07-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Any Search is a web directory. It is quite fast and gives complete results.

Any Search Info - Comprehensive Directory And Search Engine

2005-07-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best online almanacs and statistical sources that I have seen online. It even has a Homework center!

Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help.

2005-07-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

A set of directories organized by country, state and category. An excellent source for local listings.

GoToGeo.com - The Internet Directories by Geography

2005-07-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

DirOne is a web directory and search engine. You can search by their directory, or put in the term you want. The results page also has related terms.

Free Web Directory

2005-07-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

This site shows some of the errors that Google has been making lately.

Gfakes :: Errors by Google

2005-06-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

Aaron the Aardvark runs three search engines, one for business, one for sports, and one for travel. He is quite picky about what goes in the engines, so the results are high quality.

AardvarkBusiness.net Business Search Engine

2005-05-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

Igrep is a new search engine specifically for developers. It searches content and uses fuzzy logic and stem searching.

It also has a toolbar that you can download. Unfortunately, the site does not state what the "Webmaster Tools" or the "SEO Tools" are in the toolbar.

igrep

2005-04-05T08:12:00.000-07:00

This article backs up my contention that Yahoo is the better search engine.

Guardian Unlimited | Online | Ben Hammersley: Second Sight

2005-04-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Search now has its own blog! Here is the place to go to see what the latest new products are, and tips on using Yahoo and its toolbar.

Yahoo! Search blog

2005-03-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

B2Evolution is a mutilingual, multi user blog search engine. It is a free, open source script.

b2evolution: Home

2005-03-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

A scuba-only search engine. ScubaLinx seems to be mostly a search engine for the Cyber Diver News Network (CDNN), although it also claims to cover the ScubaLinx Directory, Cyber Diver, Scuba Forum and Poll as well.

CYBER DIVER :: ScubaLinx Scuba Diving Directory and Scuba Search Engine

2005-02-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

This site is a great place to track people in the news and in the world. It looks like a Who's Who of people (somewhat famous) but also has intertwined the people that they hung out with, the movies or television shows they did, and a lot of other types of information.

NNDB: Tracking the entire world

2005-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Bebo is a contact system like Plaxo. However, Bebo is web-based and does not require you to download any software. It works on any platform as well.

Bebo

2005-02-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

This blog has a lot of thoughtful comments on SEO and search engines.

Blog Business World - Marketing, Public Relations, Search Engine Optimization

2005-02-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

Poddy's Directory has a lot of interesting links, covering environmental products to casinos.

The Poddys Directory - something different from your average directory - come on in and take a look

2005-02-12T23:30:00.001-08:00

This is a new blog directory where you can submit your blogs and see thumbnails of others.

LS Blogs- Blog Directory - Home - Blogging Related Submit or find blogs and blog-sites.

2005-02-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

Fagan Finder is an excellent search tool for the web, as well as a great way of researching RSS, meta search engines, and popularity ranking.

Fagan Finder // search engines, reference, tools, and more

2005-01-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

This is an excellent site for ancient Egyptian history and information. The "Egyptian Club" is an open forum of people from around the world.

Absolute Egyptology

2005-01-25T08:36:00.000-08:00

The Google blog comments on the new way they have of stopping spammers from using blogs to advertise web sites.

Google Blog

2005-01-21T07:48:00.000-08:00

AOL's search engine can now group relevant results by topic and will generate a snapshot of results.

AOL Enhances Search Function

2005-01-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

SEO Specialists is my new company with Jean-Pierre D'Zahr (no, I haven't abandoned MySearchGuru.com). The front page has a lot of free resources on search engine optimization, there is a tips and articles page, and you can request information about our services as well.

I am so excited about this new venture!

Search Engine Optimization Specialists and Ranking Information - The #1 Resource to help SEOs, Webmasters and Designers find SEO News, Tools, and Services

2004-12-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Jim Kukral's blog is all about blogs and blogging relationships. He sees blogging as a source of content online. Has an interesting take on blogs in general.

BlogKits - Building Blog Relationships. BlogKits focuses on building relationships between businesses, bloggers & readers.

2004-12-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

SeekOn was doing local search long before the larger search engines thought of it. Here you can search either by category or state/city.

SeekOn Search System - Local Information for USA and Canada

2004-12-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

Jayde is both a search engine and a directory focused on business to business. Jayde now owns a whole network of serach engines.

Jayde.com - The B2B Search Engine

2004-12-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

An article from ZDNet Australia on Google. It talks about PageRank, and how the search engine works.

The magic that makes Google tick: ZDNet Australia: Insight: Software

2004-12-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

Search Ramp (a.k.a. Search Depo) is a good directory to the Web. They also have forums on the site.

SearchRamp - Your On Ramp to the Internet!

2004-12-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

I highly recommend Andre le Roux's Search Engine Yearbook as the best place to get information about search engines. This site also has excellent articles and resources. Andre has a great newsletter as well.

Pandecta Magazine

2004-12-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

NetNose is a very useful search engine. You can rate sites, set up filters, and add sites that you like. They even have their own toolbar!

NetNose - Rate the Web!

2004-12-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Yahoo now has its own blog (apparently not updated that frequently). It has a lot of behind the scenes information.

Yahoo! Search blog

2004-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Evisum is an educational search engine with homework help and lots of interesting resources for kids and adults. A "Vortal" is a vertical portal, in other words, a site that caters to just one subject.

Evisum.com The Educational Vortal

2004-10-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

Info.com is a new meta search engine. It searches Google, Ask Jeeves, Open Directory, Yahoo, AltaVista, Teoma, Fast, Inktomi, Overture, and LookSmart. It has web searching, a shopping search, images, whiote and yellow pages. You can also set a family filter.

Info.com - Displays results from 14 search engines

2004-10-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

GlobalSpec is an Engineering search engine. You can search by specification, comapny name, or product.

GlobalSpec: air compressors, electric motors, bearings, bar code scanners and other engineering products at GlobalSpec.com

2004-10-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

This is a highly specialized search engine, just for animals.

AnimalSearch: A family-safe search engine for animal related web sites

2004-10-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

Amfibi is a search engine, a directory, and a meta search engine (Google, Wisenut, Teoma, etc.). I saw a few dead links, but it has a lot of unique web sites.

Amfibi Web Search

2004-10-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Google can now be accessed on wireless phones that have SMS (short messaging systems).

Google introduces wireless service

2004-10-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Another use of search engines inidentifying a hit and run victim case from 11 years ago.

CNN.com - Google IDs 1993 hit-and-run victim - Oct 8, 2004

2004-08-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Mudcat Cafe allows you to search for lyrics of songs.

The Mudcat Cafe

2004-08-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

IntelSeek is a great search engine and directory. You can see the last 15 sites submitted, classified ads, and an intelligent directory.

Search Engines - intelSeek! A free major search engine

2004-08-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

This site is both a encyclopedia of psychology and a directory of pyschology web sites, including organizations.

Encyclopedia of Psychology - Psychology Websites

2004-08-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

A good resource for famous and women and their speeches. Started by a librarian.

Gifts of Speech: Women's Speeches from Around the World - Sweet Briar College

2004-08-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a directory of gift web sites.

Gift Websites

2004-08-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a new search engine called Ice Rocket. Ice Rocket shows you images of the web site results. It also allows you to find news on the subject, images, and products under the same keywords.

IceRocket Search

2004-08-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

GoArticles is an article search engine from Jayde. You can search full tect articles by topic, and it is updated regularly.

Article Search Engine Directory: GoArticles.com

2004-07-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Please Retrieve is both a search engine and a directory. It also has a news feed, stock market results, and games. The front page is a bit crowded, but it is a good search tool.

Please Retrieve.com search engine

2004-06-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

The best blog search engine yet! Check out the directory categories.

Blog Search Engine - Blog Directory, Blog Search, Blog Directories - Links Menu

2004-05-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Jim Martindale has put together an interesting reference collection, with a lot of science sources.

Martindale's 'The Reference Desk' - International Art, Business, Science & Technology

2004-05-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

An online tutorial on how to use Google.

Google Guide: Google Guide Introduction