The Deep Web refers to the part of the Internet that is not indexed by major search engines. Most of us believe that these search engines like Google and Bing see everything.
Unfortunately, they can't. They just roam the web, following one link after another, recording the results. But there are also some places they can't enter.
For example, library databases that require a password to access, or pages that belong to private organization networks.
Although search engine technology has made huge leaps (real-time search and the ability to display results with Flash and PDF content), there are parts of the web that cannot be indexed with known techniques. Such as the internet we refer to as the Deep Net, Deep Web or Invisible Web.
To access this internet, you need additional software, and to perform searches you must use the appropriate tools.
Below we will look at ten online Deep Web search tools.
WWW Virtual Library
It is considered the oldest directory on the web and was started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the internet. So it is not surprising that it can access invisible resources on the internet. The WWW Virtual Library lists several relevant resources on many topics.
For example, in the central library there are 300 sub-libraries with their own categories. The History sub-library is a very good example.
You can explore the categories or use the search bar. The screen presents you with an alphabetical arrangement of topics.
USA.gov
The official website of the U.S. government and the gateway to all the public information you need for every federal agency or state, local, and tribal government. The site has an A-Z index to all portal topics and helps you locate the information you want.
In addition to direct access, you can use filters such as “Images” or “Videos” from the top of the page for more specific results. It should be noted that there are other partner websites such as Kids.USA.gov and Publications.USA.gov that have more specialized information.
Science.gov
The introduction on the homepage says it all. The scientific search engine, has access to 60 databases and over 2,200 scientific websites that have scientific information such as the latest research and development results. Try the most advanced search engine for all government databases in the US.
Imagine this search engine as a gateway to interdisciplinary research covering everything from agricultural information to current trends in scientific research in the U.S.
U.S. Geological Survey
The website is government-owned and free. It broadcasts real-time or near-real-time data and information about current Earth conditions and observations. It is a goldmine for academic and even casual research.
Try the National Geological Survey database catalog. Explore satellite photos and images of Earth with the EarthExplorer tool. Discover 100,000+ scientific publications and books. Have you done it? You're still at the beginning..
Directory of Open Access Journals
Search for articles in open access journals. These are academic documents that are available to anyone “without financial, legal, or technical barriers.” In short, knowledge is free.
DOAJ has rigorous peer-reviewed quality control. The current site has 9000+ journals with nearly 2.5 million articles across all subjects. This information may not be available in Google Search, although Google Scholar may have access to some of the information.
Voice of The Shuttle
Do you like literature? Try Voice of The Shuttle. It's a rich directory of online resources for literature, humanities, and cultural studies. The search directory has grown to include science fiction, culture, Cyberculture, and technology.
It began as a support tool for the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1994. To this day, it continues to be updated and you can discover primary and secondary resources.
RxList
While Google has medical information, there is also more specialized information. RxList is a comprehensive database that contains all prescription drugs in the United States. It is an encyclopedia of drugs.
The data comes from sources such as the FDA, Cerner Multum, and First Data Bank, Inc.
Infoplease
This online encyclopedia started as a radio quiz show in 1938. Today, Infoplease is a huge information portal. Using the website, you can access a huge number of databases, e-journals, e-books, newsletters, mailing lists, library cards, articles and research papers.
WorldCat
This search engine has access to 72,000 libraries from 170 countries and can help you find books, theses, videos, multimedia or even museum exhibits.
If you have difficulty due to the sheer volume of information, you can use the “Ask a Librarian” feature to request assistance from the librarians in charge.
National Security Archive
This is a non-government source for unclassified security documents and will give you access to over 10 million pages of government documents.
These documents are mainly aimed at journalists and security researchers.
Other pages worth mentioning:
- Elephant
- MagPortal
- Free Lunch
- Clinical Trials
- Project Gutenberg
- The Library of Congress
- Internet Archive (Including the Way Back Machine)
- The National Gallery of Art
- Scitation
- PubSpace
How to connect to the Deep Web?
The size of the Deep Web is estimated to be many times larger than the web we all know. What is true is that it is an area of incredible information. But how useful is it to the general public when a Google search never reaches beyond the second page of results?
The invisible web is reportedly dominated by TOR sites and illegal services. No, the depth changes. Illegal services are found on the Dark Web as the image below shows:
When it comes to the Deep Web, the truth is that it is a huge dump of information that requires some technique to access. The invisible web is definitely not for the casual researcher. The information is limitless but if you know what you are looking for, and where to search, it is a few keywords away.
