Ref Seek is a search engine whose intention is to only serve links that have potential academic use. Ref Seek seems to eliminate the advertising and paid links found on Google, Ask, Yahoo, and other commercial search tools. Users can sort Ref Seek results into "links only" or "documents only" views.
Google Scholar will lead researchers to a variety of resources including abstracts, papers, books, patent records, and court opinions. Some items may be available for free viewing (in Google Books, for example), but many link to journals contained in subscription-required databases.
Excerpted from Richard Byrne's "Beyond Google: Alternative Search Tools", featured in the February 2013 edition of School Library Journal.
