Rachel R. Savarino Library at Trocaire College

Deep Web Pathfinder

Please Note: Many of these sites lead you to proprietary sites and may have log-ins or fees associated with some of the information.

“Many people are unaware that most of the authoritative information accessible over the Internet is invisible to search engines like AltaVista, HotBot, and Google.  This invaluable material resides on “The Invisible Web,” which is largely comprised of content-rich databases from universities, libraries, associations, businesses, and government agencies around the world.” –from The Invisible Web: uncovering information sources search engines can't see by Gary Price and Chris Sherman. Medford, New Jersey : Information Today, Inc., 2001

• Beaucoup.com: Accesses “Free” Deep web content…: www.beaucoup.com 

• Complete Planet: by Bright Planet: http://aip.completeplanet.com  in which you can search for search engines appropriate to any topic.

• Gary Price, co-author, also has a very large (and loosely organized) Website with lots and lots of good links: http://www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm

• IncyWincy: “Invisible Web” search engine and directory: http://www.incywincy.com 

• Invisible Web Website, created and infrequently maintained by the authors of the book of the same name: http://www.invisible-web.net

•  IxQuick: meta search engine, selects “relevant” and highly-rated results: http://ixquick.com/eng/

•  Profusion, a meta-deep-web search engine: http://www.profusion.com/index.htm

  Specialized Directories

•  BUBL is out of the UK and it’s arranged by Dewey classification number: http://bubl.ac.uk/  

•  Internet Public Library: it’s huge! http://ipl.si.umich.edu

•  Librarian’s Index to the Internet has excellent, reviewed resources: http://lii.org (search for databases)

•  Searchbug has a People and Company finder specialty, but also has a directory at the bottom of the page with different specialized resources: http://www.searchbug.com

Sites to read up on Search Engines:

• Search Engine Watch: http://searchenginewatch.com/

• Search Engine Showdown: http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/

• Search Engine Guide: Lets you search for specialized search engines as well as news http://www.searchengineguide.com/

• Search Engine Blog: http://bazac.blogspot.com/ Good news and lots of posts.

Compiled Spring 2005 by Liz Evans <eaevans@buffalo.edu>
Graduate Intern, School of Informatics
Department of Library and Information Studies (LIS)
State University of New York at Buffalo

Updated 07/22/2008