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Selecting Search Engines

A collection of general and specialized web search engines.

Audio Search Engines

ccMixter logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Open music search engine.
  • Allows you to find music for sampling, remixing, and adding to other projects.  
  • Most music is free to use with attribution under a Creative Commons license
  • Filters allow you to look for free music, sort by how recent the music is, and limit results to instrumentals. 
  • Tag search allows you to limit results by genre, style, and instrument. 

Free Music Archive logo

Search Interface

Description

  • Repository of legal, free music run by independent radio station WFMU.
  • Many songs are licensed to be reused or remixed
  • After searching, you can limit results by genre, instrumental, duration, and by licensing. 

Search better

Listen Notes logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Podcast search engine. 
  • Searches for individual episodes and whole shows covering your search topic. 
  • Filters in results allow you to look for podcasts by category, language, location, length, and recency. You can also control what field Listen Notes searches in (i.e. the title, the description, the author, & the audio).
  • You can make clips parts of a podcast episode and share it (requires creating account)
  • At the bottom of your search results you can sign up to get alerts for new results for that search (requires creating account). 
  • Listen Later allows you to create playlists of podcast episodes that can be exported to podcast apps (requires creating account).  
  • Listen Explorer search lets you enter podcasts you like to get recommendations for new ones. 

Search Better

Internet Archive logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Searches a vast, free archive of recorded audio, including music, podcasts, radio, interviews, and audio books.
  • Part of a larger project to archive the open web and other digital cultural items. 
  • When using a basic search, you can limit to audio using the "Media Type" filter in the left column of your results. 
  • Advanced search can limit results to audio using the "Mediatype:" field. 

Search Better

Wikimedia Commons logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Media file repository of public domain and free-to-use media files run the Wikimedia Foundation, creator of Wikipedia.

Image Search Engines

Bing logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Uses Bing's search algorithm to find images. 
  • After a basic search, a filtering tool (title="Show or hide filters") will appear to the upper right of the results. You can filter results by image size, color, types of images, layout, how people appear in the images, by date, and by Creative Commons license to find the exact image you need. 
  • Use Visual Search to look for images using an image you have already found. 

Search Better

Creative Commons logo

Search Interface

Description

  • Searches a collection of Creative Commons-licensed materials.
  • Main search page allows you to check for images that can be used for commercial purposes and for images that can be modified or adapted.
  • On results page, a filter button to the upper right of the results brings up options to filter results by CC license or creator. You can also check a box to search by creator instead of by what is in the image.  

Google Images logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Searches Google's index of the web for images. 
  • Use reverse image search to upload an image to Google to find related images on the web. Click the camera icon (aria label "Search by image") to access reverse image search. 
  • Click the "Tools" button on the results page to bring up options for finding images by type, size, color, when it was posed, and usage rights.
  • Advanced image search gives you additional options for finidng your image, including searching by the options provided in the "Tools" button. 

Search Better

Wikimedia Commons logo

Search Interfaces

Description

  • Media file repository of public domain and free-to-use media files run the the Wikimedia Foundation, creator of Wikipedia.
  • You can limit to image using the "File Type" field under "Advanced parameters." 
  • The icon next to each field in "Advanced parameters" explains how it can be used to improve your search. 
  • wikiview is a graphic search tool for finding images on Wikimedia Commons.