To find articles, books, and other academically focused research materials using subscription databases visit our Research Tools page. The library particularly recommends search tools appearing in a bold typeface. Tools marked with an asterisk combine features of both search engines and subject directories. Click on the appropriate information icon to learn about each search tool category.
Searches generally result in a long list of web pages, sorted according to relevance .
Relevance is determined by secret computer algorithms that often miscalculate the value of listed pages. Human beings also add value to subject directories by assigning a category or subject heading to every web site included in the database. As a result these tools can save you the trouble of searching several databases yourself. Because of the parasitic business model used by these tools, some search engines do not cooperate with them. Another downside of metasearch tools is that search operators used to form sophisticated searches do not work well when searching multiple databases.