http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html
The extensive WWW Virtual Library is a powerful search tool that allows
you to find information on almost any of the world's Web servers through
user-friendly key word searches. Make sure this vital address is in your
hotlist.
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Whoopie!
http://www.whoopie.com/
Establishing a directory of sound and video files on the Internet is
an intrinsically Net-like nerdy thing to do. What possible use is searching
out stuff to download, watch and listen to, regardless of what it is? Believe
me, two hours and one film trailer later, the novelty begins to pale but,
regardless, Whoopie is in the 'Why do it? Because we can,' Web site genre,
and is probably as useful a way as any of getting to film, TV, radio and
'other' miscellaneous whizz-bang sites. But pushing the edges of the envelope?
Not!
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The Media Village
http://mediavillage.mediatel.co.uk/
The Media Village is a Net community populated by leading media organisations
and top industry bods. Everything a media mogul could wish for is here:
a place to order industry data and publications, a mechanism for finding
out more about careers and training, a way of tracking down email addresses
and a dicussion forum. A fair amount of information is available to proles
but magnates who've made their millions may want to subscribe to the in-depth
service for £7400 pa. Like most villages, it's easy to find your way
around and the atmosphere is friendly. Absolutely fabulous darling but Ü
take it from one who knows Ü not a preparation for the bitching, backstabbing
cut 'n' thrust of the real media world.
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search.com
http://www.search.com
More c/net product and several bookmarks in one. Search.com combines
the type-in 'go get it' boxes from all your favourite search engines Ü
Alta Vista, Excite, Yahoo, Lycos, Infoseek, Magellan and sister software
library, Shareware.com. It also collates specialist search tools for specialist
subject areas, which makes everything a lot easier in the long run. Hurrah!
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My Yahoo
http://edit.my.yahoo.com/bin/login
The personalised Web comes a step closer with My Yahoo. Currently in
beta, the site offers to make a personalised selection from all of Yahoo's
categories and the selection process is obviously based on these. It's pretty
quick to set up and we found that the selections made were interesting and
useful. A nice clean design takes you through the configuration process.
Well worth a look .
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MetaCrawler
http://metacrawler.cs.washington.edu:8080/
How to justify another review of another search engine. Well (yawn),
why not? Metacrawler is the newest of bunch, still in beta but with more
features than you can shake a stick at. Not that shaking a stick at it would
do much good! It simultaneously submit search terms to the big guys Ü
Infoseek, Yahoo, Excite, Webcrawler, Open Text, Inktomi, Galaxy, Lycos and
Alta Vista Ü hence the 'meta' bit. (How long before this really gets
the big's search facilities' goat?) Not only that, but it also lets you
limit your search in a number of ways. This works either by letting you
limit precious seconds online by saying search only for a specified number
of minutes, or you can choose by region (the world, your continent, country,
domain) or type of Web site (any, com, edu, org and so on) to help narrow
things down. This is useful, if you already know what you're looking for
and it means you'll never spend more than a few minutes trawling through
the results. One more to add to your bookmarks. Let's play hide and seek!
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Inktomi
http://inktomi.berkeley.edu/
Whether its the native American name and its overtones or the fact that
Inktomi does its job very well, it's become kind of cool to use this particular
search engine. You can search using up to 10 words and Inktomi returns those
documents that contain those words. The results are then ranked in order
of how many of your search words each document contains. Phew!
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Galaxy
http://www.einet.net/galaxy.html
Seldom mentioned but holding its own, Galaxy's Web directory is both
an engine that searches for your request and a listings directory of Web
addresses. When Lycos and Point combined are doing so well, it gets harder
to recommend other search applications, but it's really about finding something
that meets your own needs. This one might be it.
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G.O.D.
http://www.god.co.uk
The Global Online Directory. Big build up, monster domain name. It promises
so much and then fails to deliver. The bare bones are there, for example
you can search geographically (great idea) but in practice much of the information
is not available. Why pretend that searching on Afghanistan, Albania or
Algeria is an option when in reality it actually isn't? How useful is it
to pick four relevant letters from the alphabet in order to search for a
title, description or URL of an HTML page? Sometimes the whole process is
a little confusing Ü search on 'universities' and you get one match
but in the singular you get 224. Obviously this needs some fine tuning Ü
perhaps some slightly more sophisticated query options? G.O.D. may be in
his heaven but there's a long way to go before all's right with the online
world.
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ESP
http://www.mailbox.co.uk/esp
Short for email (address) search program, this offers a simple one box
interface search engine for sniffing out somebody@large on the Net. Pathetic
pleas for sympathetic treatment are no excuse for poor results, and they
were poor, but if your message is destined for a regular user of Usenet,
then it may actually come up trumps. Then again, you could always try searching
newsgroups y'self!
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Alta Vista
http://www.altavista.digital.com
The mainstream success of the Internet will ultimately depend on how
good its search tools, directories and engines are and, it has to be said,
they keep on getting better. Alta Vista is an excellent device from Digital
for finding references or documents in Web pages and for trawling through
thousands of newsgroups. Its super spider dispatches ilittle spider babies
to crawl and collect data from all over the Web. Queries can either be simple
or sophisticated (by date, results displayed in a pre-selected ranking order,
using phrases and, or, not or near). There's also a random destination button
under the name Surprise!
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Finding Email Addresses
of Individuals
http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/lib/address.html
An absolute top, very well executed idea that offers direct links and
handy tips for searching out the email addresses of difficult -to-get-hold-of
colleagues or long-lost friends. It has an educational bias, so finding
academic types is presumably a bit of a breeze. Otherwise, it suggests specific
directories, searching newsgroups and other 'finding email addresses' pages
to refer to when embarking on a particularly elusive acquaintance. It's
not always easy and you should be prepared for it to take a while. In fact
it takes at least an hour to fully digest the information on this site,
and that's before you even start to go elsewhere.
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World Yellow Pages NETwork
http://wyp.net
Cor blimey! A Californian-based company has placed the entire US Yellow
Pages online. Fully searchable by name, state, zip and telephone number,
it also includes links to other Yellow Pages search engines around the world.
Any American organisation not included can add their own details and create
a page for free.
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Europages
http://www.europages.com
Only by using directories like this will these services even begin to
meet your needs. This is a list of European business contacts, allowing
you access to 150,000 suppliers in 25 European countries. Searchable in
English, German, Spanish, French and Italian...shortly to include Dutch,
Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Russian. The structure is in place to
make it a wholly reciprocal arrangement and Euro-opportunities could beckon
for you.
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Excite
http://www.excite.com
Using a search engine is about finding the best one for you . Excite's
Netsearch actually uses Architext Software and so works on the principle
of both keyword and concept searches. It can be directed towards Web documents,
Usenet discussion groups or Usenet classified ads Ü in the unlikely
event that you'd want to search them that is.
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WebCrawler
http://www.webcrawler.com/
Internet has been highly remiss in not listing this before as it's one
we use often in the office. If you're not already familiar with WebCrawler's
super-speedy way of searching on words, then the main point to mention is
its total simplicity. Go use.
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Four11 White Page Directory
http://www.Four11.com/
This works on the principle of 'you show me yours and I'll show you
mine'. Once you have added your own email address or Web page to the directory
(including details of hobbies, old schools and stuff like that), you can
search for other peoples' addresses and/or their Web pages. Simple and effective
Üævoila!
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OKRA net.citizen Directory
Service
http://barrichello.ucr.edu/okra/
OKRA helps you find email addresses for both individuals and organisations.
It's not infallible but you can elect to have yourself included on the database.
Otherwise, the search on names and addresses must be related to those who
have at one time used newsgroups, so if you're a little paranoid you know
not what to do.
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UK Web Directory
http://www.ukdirectory.com
This has been touted as one of the best places to search for UK sites.
It uses simple category headings and is reassuringly easy to use, partly
because the volume of information is still, just about, at a manageable
size.
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Surfboard
http://www.fultech.com/
Already adopted by the Microsoft Network, Fulcrum Technology's Web server
software is a full-text search and retrieval system. It's special oh-not-so-standard
feature is something called 'intuitive' searching which, in a pretty sophisticated
fashion, allows users to get hold of documents a bit like the one they're
already reading.
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PLWeb
http://www.pls.com
Searching across a selection of personally chosen databases is just
one of the benefits of PLWeb. Adopted by America Online, Prodigy, Pathfinder
and, more recently, The Well, it allows users to look at local as well as
remote servers and offers a wide variety of searches. Concept searches take
a word, phrase or query and find words that are 'conceptually' related by
virtue of having a similar distribution in the database you're looking at.
A dictionary search lets you know how many times a word is used in a database
and the fuzzy advisor minimises problems with bad spelling or typographical
errors. However, running a copy of PLWeb is probably only really useful
for the business user because, although it does work with a 14.4 or 19.2
kbps connection, something rather more speedy is recommended.
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Architext
http://www.atext.com
Architext's Web server software has a few features worth mentioning.
Firstly, it allows you to do concept-based searches. Secondly, you can then
ask it to find documents 'more like this' and thirdly, it'll group the retrieved
records by subject. Voil! Demos are available on a rather miniscule 5Mb
database but a more comprehensive test is offered if you ask.
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DejaNews
http://www.dejanews.com
Marvellous method for trawling through Usenet, if you're looking for
past postings. Search on the complete newsgroup name, look for certain characters
or words in the name, search by date or even postings from particular people.
It's so simple and it works.
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Publicly Accessible
Mailing Lists
http://www.NeoSoft.com/internet/paml/
Stephanie da Silva's massive Publicly Accessible Mailing Lists directory
is available here in hypertext. This is far more convenient than the text
version as you can click on the email contacts, cut and paste the subscription
request and mail it directly to your browser. There are thousands of specialist
lists organised by name or subject, with ample details on their traffic,
content and joining instructions.
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UK Index
http://www.ukindex.co.uk
Firm and business-like but in no way intimidating, UK Index is a manually
compiled, and hence high-quality, database of sites about, or located in,
the UK. Users select the areas they're interested in by clicking subject
boxes and relevant addresses are returned with a one-line description and
a hotlink.
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Savvy Search
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~dreiling/smartform.html
This handy search tool queries other search tools on your behalf, in
real time. All you have to do is type in one or more key words and Savvy
Search does the rest.
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All-in-One Search Page
http://www.albany.net/~wcross/all1srch.html
There's more than one way to skin a cat and using that Yahoo or Infoseek
can get to be a bit of a habit. These perfectly formed pages should be seen
to be believed. They're an A-Z of Internet search tools, all combined in
one consistent, convenient interface. There are engines for Web search sites,
file finders and heaps of subject-based specialist material. It's a chance
to try out new tools and compare them with regular faves Ü if only
to find out that the dependable, much relied on regulars are the best. The
only problem is running out of things to look for.
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New UK Web Pages
http://www.u-net.com/develop/intdev/ukweb/ukweb.html
A new and welcome addition for when What's New: Yahoo is a total log
jam Ü a page devoted entirely to recently launched British sites on
the Web. And for every UK research institute, academic resource or business
presence on the Internet, there's a warped individual with an even more
warped home page. Whatever happened to...only in America?
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Censor Bait
http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/safe/notsee.html
If you're looking for Web sites brimming with controversy, sex, politics
and anarchy, step this way.
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Yanoff's List
http://www.uwm.edu/Mirror/inet.services.html
Like Yahoo, this exceptional list breaks down Web sites and other Internet
resources into categories, making it another valuable navigational aid.
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Infoseek
http://www.infoseek.com
Infoseek allows to you can search a database of WWW pages, the most
recent 6 week's Usenet, Newsbytes International Computing Industry News,
Cineman Reviews, FrameMaker 4.0 Help Notes, Hoover's Masterlist of U.S.
Companies, Wire Services, Computer Select, InfoWorld and Hoover's Company
Profiles. Unlike much of the competition it is always accessible, can search
through the entire body text of Web pages and Usenet, has an ultra-forgiving
interface and can give you a report on all the news postings from a single
email address instantaneously. You can try it for a month free, but after
that it costs about US$10.00 per month. Step aside, Lycos!
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CityScape's Users
http://www.cityscape.co.uk/users/wwwdir.html
Cityscape's free Web pages offer has produced this mixed basket of the
mildly commercial to the indulgently personal.
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Free Stuff from the Internet
http://power.globalnews.com:80/freestuff/buyaccess.html
How to get the sort of stuff listed at Yahoo or WWW.emap.co.uk without
paying someone to tell you where it is. It's amazing how alluring that word
'free' is. A rip-off of the highest order.
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World Wide Yellow Pages
http://www.yellow.com/
Yes, yes, yes. This is what we've been waiting for - a centralised business
registry. It means you only have one place to look, rather than scouring
every corner of the Net. It ambitiously sets out to be the 'Yellow pages
for the next 100 years'. It's looking good so far, let's hope it can handle
the traffic.
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Who's Who on the Internet
http://web.city.ac.uk/citylive/pages.html
Not what you'd think, but the WWW Virtual Library's directory of individual
home pages. Add your own, using the form, if you think you'll be heard above
the noise.
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The Revolving Door
http://www.galcit.caltech.edu/~ta/cgi-bin/revdoor-ta
You can add your favourite URL, delete a URL or visit one already on
the menu. This makes it an ever-changing and quasi-democratic hot list maintained
entirely by visitors.
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Subject-Orientated Clearinghouse
http://www.lib.umich.edu/chhome.html
This guide provides links to subject-orientated Internet resources by
providing a menu from which to start your search. It's like a stiffer, less
attractive, version of Yahoo but just as useful.
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Newsgroups in Oxford
http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/
This automatically compiled list works like a Gopher menu and allows
you to browse news FAQs accompanied by brief descriptions. However, you'll
need to configure your WWW client to point at a suitable NNTP server to
take advantage of the hyperlinks.
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UK Internet Lists
http://www.limitless.co.uk/inetuk/
This is the best set of UK Internet resource lists you will find anywhere.
If you're shopping for a connection, you can compare Internet access provider's
details here, and then link to their home pages. There are lists of Internet
consultants, training courses, publications and a hotlist chock full of
links to useful information, guides, tools and services.
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Netizens
http://gnn.com/netizens/
Create a link to your own home page or browse this GNN list by name
and choose one randomly Ü it's a bit of a lucky dip.
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Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com
This is another indispensible addition to your browsing toolbox. Apart
from the excellent menu-based browser, there are links to new, cool and
popular sites. Menus may be several layers deep and can hyperlink you to
Web sites, Gophers, news and FTPs. You can search by keyword or add your
own URL. Some sites are rated and new entries are tagged to give you extra
guidance.
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Harvest
http://harvest.cs.colorado.edu/
Another excellent WWW keyword browse and search tool with less duplication
than others such as Lycos and the WWWW. The reference database is collated
from content summaries, anchors and HTML strings and contains over 22,000
WWW home pages. Make sure this is in your toolkit.
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World Wide Web Servers
http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/WWW/Geographical.html
You have the choice of sensitive map or hypertext link to search for
servers in this regionally sorted list. It's great for finding country specific
information or just surfing the globe.
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WWW Worm
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/home/mcbryan/WWWW.html
Based at the University of Colorado, this server offers several good
ways to search the Web. The examples given show how to search with multiple
references.
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World Wide Web Wanderer
http://www.netgen.com/info/growth.html
Apart from cryptically coded statistics on Web growth, this site provides
links to thousands http sites, sorted by country. However, other than the
site code, no other information is supplied, so it's a bit like throwing
a dart. However, it's useful if you're after regional information or just
want to browse randomly.
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Veronica
Gopher: gopher.scs.unr.edu
Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Netwide Index to Computerised Archives)
allows key word searches of Gopher menus.
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Cool Sight of the Day
http://cool.infi.net/
If your site is listed here it will guarantee a traffic surge of at
least a few thousand.
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Lycos Database
http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/
This massive index maintained by Carnegie Mellon University is the best
place to start a Web search. This Web crawler generated index searches,
document titles, headings, links and keywords, usually returning more hits
than any other tool. Whether they will be useful ones is another matter,
though.
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Global Network Navigator
http://www.gnn.com/gnn/gnn.html
Make this top Web server an essential addition to your hotlist. From
deep in the heart of Californian wine country, GNN has carefully organised
links to a host of useful places. This includes access to the inimitable
Whole Internet Catalogue, a large classified directory of what's on the
Web, Digital Drive In, a section about movies, and NetNews, a weekly roundup
of Internet news. The Market Place, a growing source of commercial practices
setting up on the Internet, What's New, and the excellent Personal Finance
section are also well worth a regular scan.
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CUI Index
http://cuiwww.unige.ch/
Excellent textual browser maintained by the Centre Universitaire d'Informatique
in Geneva which allows you to search summaries of several Web catalogues
to produce detailed links. The catalogue currently contains 12,308 entries.
Top of Page |
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