Sometimes scouring the vastness of the internet can be a hassle. You don’t have time to sift through the millions of database and journal sources for your research paper, proposal, or summary. You already have 10^30 things you need to do.

Well I went ahead and did some of that scouring for you. Hopefully these database driven search engines are useful and can provide you with a portal to the articles you need to keep up on your to-do list.

Useful STEM-base Search Engines

1. Google Scholar
2. SciFinder 
3. Wiley Online Library
4. ScienceDirect
5. RefSeek
6. Lab Spend
7. CiteSeer^x
8. GetCITED
9. Microsoft Academic Research
10. Bioline International
11. Directory of Open Access Journals
12. PLOSone
13. BioOne
14. New Journal of Physics
15. NCBI
16. Sigma Aldrich – For reagent/chemical properties

The above academic directory powered SE’s are great for scientific research and paper citations. They offer information covering almost all major areas of science including computer and technology based fields.

With that said, search engines are not the only way to sift through the information online. Though more current and comprehensive in their scope,. search engines are merely the newest most “mainstream” players on the field. Other reliable sources of information are found in large web directories which allow you to browse among dozens or hundreds of sites devoted to the same subject. The problem with directories is that they do not auto-index like Google and other search engines do, which means it may take several months for new sites to be added to their catalog.

You can also use a web-tool known as a metacrawler or metasearch site. These sites combine the work of multiple search engines and can search billions of web pages. The only drawback is that using this search option can sometimes be inferior to multiple direct search engine queries.

The last one I know of is the all-in-one search pages which, unlike metasearch/crawlers do not send your query through multiple engines, but instead list a wide variety of search engines on one page, allowing you to search without going directly to a specific search engine.

For more information and updates check out Search Engine Watch. They are a good source on the current climate surrounding the most used search tools on the web.

Web Directories

1. Science Web Directories

MetaCrawlers & MetaSearch

1. Dogpile
2. Vivisimo
3. Kartoo
4. Mamma
5. SurfWax
6. Clusty
7. CurryGuide
8. Excite
9. Fazzle
10. Gimenei
11. IceRocket – Meta search engine with thumbnail displays.
12. Info.com – Provides results from 14 search engines and pay-per-click directories.
13. InfoGrid – Provides direct links to major search sites and topical web sites in different categories. Meta search and news searching is also offered.
14. Infonetware
15. Ixquick
16. iZito – Has a “park” feature, allowing you to essentially save specific pages from the result listings.
17. Jux2 – This is a search result comparison tool, allowing for side by side result comparisons of multiple SEs.
18. Meceoo – Allows you to create an “exclusion list” to block pages from particular web sites being included.
19. MetaCrawler – One of the oldest meta search services, MetaCrawler began in July 1995 at the University of Washington.
20. MetaEureka – Offers a nice option to see Alexa info about pages that are listed.
21. ProFusion – Accesses several major web SEs and some invisible web resources.
22. Query Server
23. Turbo10 – Accesses traditional & some invisible web databases.
24. Search.com
25. Ujiko – Flash is required.
26. WebCrawler
27. ZapMeta

All-In-One Pages

1. CentPage 
2. Google Versus Yahoo Tool – Exactly what you think it is.
3. One Page MultiSearch Engines
4. Proteus
5. Queryster
6. YurNet

Additionally, exiting the realm of scientific discovering and entering the realm of regular discovery, there are many specialized metasearch services available which can make our life on the net a little easier.

Specific MetaSearch Services

1. GoFish – Searches licensed and commercially available digital media downloads including music, movies, music videos, ringtones, mobile games and PC games.
2. Searchy.co.uk – Searches 15 U.K. only search engines.
3. Watson – for macintosh users.

If you are still having trouble with all the internets setting there before you, then it may be beneficial for you to read through the Science on the Internet site. It is a tutorial developed by the International Network for the Availability for Science Publications (INASP) and the Institute for Learning and Research Technology (ILRT) at the University of Bristol to help policy advisers who want to use the Internet to find and manage information on science topics.

**ProTip – Always check your university database as they have access to many journals and if the article you are looking for is not in one of them you can request an inter-library loan. A word of warning, this can sometimes take a couple days so plan in advance.

The above is by no means everything, but hopefully if you are studying in the STEM fields it can provide you with some helpful sources. As always, leave me a comment if you find any sites that belong here and especially if any of the links are dead!

Remember unless science is accessible to all, it cannot be as beneficial for all.