I frequently use a Search Engine to retrieve helpful or necessary information from the 'net. These engines catalogue pages from commercial, personal and academic websites, as well as Mailing Lists and the like.
Of course, there are a large number of available Search Engines, and I suggest you try several before giving up on a particular quest. Research has shown that any one of them catalogues but a small portion of existent web pages. It is worthwhile becoming very familiar with the operational details of at least one non-directory engine to maximize the efficiency and efficacy of your search efforts. You probably already have a favorite - I like Google.com, and will discuss it in a little more detail.
This engine has several novel features that are described in its Why use Google.com page In particular, the engine often returns the most useful pages first ; in fact, I have often found that the first listed page contains the information I need. Because it caches web pages, it is relatively fast at displaying requested items. It has a so-called GoogleScout (TM) feature that provides additional relevant links with each item returned.
In addition, it has a specialized Linux Search Engine that I use as my primary Internet search tool. It searches the database of linux-related pages at Google.com further promoting search efficiency. Try it- I am confident you will bookmark it immediately.