Yahoo!

Yahoo has the biggest index. It is both a directory and a search engine. Users can access both the directory and the search engine from the home page. The directory is well organized according to subject and offers access to a wealth of information. The search engine displays query results in three categories: Inside Yahoo, which offers a few results from the directory, Sponsored Links and Web Results.
The search engine supports full Boolean searching; however, it lacks some advanced features such as truncation.

Google

Google is currently the most powerful search engine on the Internet. One of its key strengths is that it archives Websites and places them in cache. This allows the user to consult websites even when they are no longer online. Google is simple to use and unlike other search engines the search results are not modified with a commercial aim.

HotBot

HotBot allows for searches using three different databases using the same interface. The user can easily switch between the following databases: Google, Ask Jeeves (Teoma database) and HotBot (which is actually the Yahoo!/Inktomi database). Some advanced search options are available such as full Boolean searching and exact searches using "double quotes". However truncation is not available. It is also possible to conduct searches in 36 languages. The first four search results are commercial links.

Sources for this section : www.searchengineshowdown.com

Search Engines
Directories in Alphabetical Order

About.com

This directory offers a collection of links carefully chosen by "guides". Although About.com does offer a search engine, pertinent information on subjects can be found quicker using the directory. The site is commercially heavy; however, commercial links are placed at the end of your search results.

Answers.com

Over a million subjects are indexed in this database. It provides an alphabetical list of suggestions when you enter text in the searchbox.

British Library Net

Original collection of links organized and maintained by the British Library. The subjects are primarily academic in nature and cater to the British, however, everyone can benefit from this site.

BUBL link

British Bulletin Board for libraries offering a list of 12,000 links, designed primarily for the university community. This list can be used by everyone.

Digital Librarian

An impressive directory of hundreds of links classified by subject and maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson, from Cortland, New York. This site is not always subdivided in traditional categories; however, it is worth the visit.

IPL 2 (formerly Internet Public Library and Librarians' Index To Internet)

Created by librarians, this site is an excellent directory of credible academic information.

iTools

From the iTools Website you can access several search engines, translation tools, encyclopedias and dictionaries, a currency converter and map tools.

Librarians' Index to Internet

Created by librarians, the site is an excellent directory of credible academic information. The website contains over 12,000 Internet resources which have been selected by librarians.

Lycos

Lycos is a commercial search engine which works with the assistance of directories of the Open Directory Project. The first results are commercial. The search engine uses the Yahoo!/Inktomi database.

Martindale's - The Reference Desk

The website is maintained by the University of California and offers one of the best directories of academic links grouped by subject.

Open Directory Project

Large directory of links constructed and maintained by volunteers. The site has indexed over 3 million Websites, contains over 460,000 categories and has in excess of 50,000 contributors. It's the largest non automated directory.

References Resources - For Answering Patrons Reference Questions

Reference site created for librarians maintained by Mary Niederlander from Buffalo, New York.

RefDesk

The website is an excellent source of specific and factual information. The design of the site allows the user to quickly find answers to everyday questions.

The Internet Scout Project

This site offers a wealth of information for educators, librarians and researchers. The project is an initiative of the Computer Science Department of the Wisconsin-Madison University.

La Toile du Québec

A general directory offering links to information pertinent to Quebec.

Virtual Reference Library

A collection of general links on several topics for the whole family, put forward by the New Brunswick Public Library Service. The site has been created to serve New Brunswickers and all those interested in the province. The links are not limited to subjects relating to New Brunswick.

Virtual Reference Shelf - Selected Web Resources compiled by the LC

Created by the Library of Congress, this site offers a directory of resources for the public at large. The site focuses on the United States, with certain links being strictly commercial while others direct you to reference sites with factual information.

Search Engines
Meta Search Engines in alphabetical order

Clusty

Clusty is a Vivisimo product. It facilitates searches by organizing search results in files, grouping similar items together. Searches are done in Ask, Gigablast, MSN, Open Directory, Sponsored Listings, and Wikipedia.

Copernic

Copernic is a downloadable client-based metasearch engine. The basic version is free of charge. It provides relevant results from 100 other search engines grouped into 11 categories. Duplicate results are eliminated. A summary of the pages found is available. With more advanced versions, there are other functions, such as preserving the search history, production of detailed search reports, exporting of results, etc. It is an excellent Quebec search engine.

Dogpile

Dogpile uses 12 of the best search engines on the Internet (Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, FindWhat, and LookSmart, to name a few). It’s a good general search engine; however, the results are often commercial in nature.

Fouineux

Fouineux gathers a variety of different reference tools, including dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, general and video search engines, web-based translation services, and maps.

Ixquick

Ixquick is a search engine that adapts the question’s syntax to each search engine queried. It eliminates duplicates and uses stars to flag results that appear in several search engines at the same time. It can also do searches of the international telephone book and compare the lowest prices for a given product.

Mamma

Founded in 1996, this metasearch engine is one of the oldest on the Web. It does not display a list of the search engines consulted and it mixes sponsored links with search results without identifying them. However, it received an honourable mention in the "Best Metasearch Engines" category in 2003 on the Search Engine Watch site.

Surfwax

This metasearch engine uses major search engines, and if you open a free account you can choose other search engines from a list of several dozen. In 2002, this search engine won an honorable mention in the Search Engine Watch Awards, in the category of Meta Search Engine.