If you absolutely have to find a relatively obscure piece of information in a hurry, you're often better off picking up a telephone, hopping into your car and driving across town to the nearest public library, or - ahem - simply making it up.
There are, however, several search engines that are worth checking before you start your car's engine.
At last count, I have more than two dozen search engines saved on my bookmarks. Some I visit frequently, others hardly at all.
Over time I've learned a bit about their idiosyncrasies, and I can zero in on which of them is most likely to provide the information I need on a specific topic.
Everyone knows about Yahoo, Alta Vista and the other powerhouses on the Web. I'll focus here on some of the lesser-known sites that have been the most consistent and rewarding for me.
I'd recommend them whether you're on a quick hunt or leisurely wild-goose chase.
ANZWERS - I use this Australian-based site more than any other search engine. It allows you to search by continent, or across the world, and it returns up to 100 hits per page. I've found that it produces more results and more precise results than any search engine in my bookmarks, including Alta Vista. After you've searched once for an item, be sure to click the "wider search" button - you'll quickly double or triple the results.
DOGPILE - This is the best of the simultaneous-search engines I've seen. It utilizes about two dozen search engines, including most of the biggies, and it returns a large but manageable set of results. It's also a handy way to search newsgroups and web-based news wires such as Excite and Yahoo.
HUSKY SEARCH - This one's another impressive multiple-search engine. I use it nearly as often as Anzwers, although it tends to generate a few more squirrelly, completely unrelated results. This site offers searches lasting five seconds, 30 seconds or three minutes.
ASK JEEVES - You can give the boot to Boolean with this one and ask your question in plain English. It generates fairly precise results and occasionally will send you down a few alleys you didn't know existed.
NEWSBOT - This site is useful for those occasions when you recall reading a news story somewhere about the topic you're researching, but you can't remember where it was. Newsbot searches quite a few major newspapers and news sites; you can narrow the search to the last 24 hours, or search for "whenever."
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