Google for a quick fix, but if I'm wanting more obscure info then I'll go to specialist searchengines & databases plus my research library.
I'm afraid that it's been 2 years since I did more than just information research for family & friends so my skills are no longer up to professional level. Not anywhere near it actually
& I cannot justify being a member of any paid databases when I'm not being paid in return for my searchings. I mostly did medical research & medical databases are shockingly expensive.
I miss it though. I loved information research & I was very good at it, so, discovering how much I've forgotten about the 'hows & where's' when i have to hunt down serious information for friends is always a shock.
Like most skills. If you don't use it you lose it
I'm sure that you know enough about the 'invisible web' to know just how small a percentage of web information is available to google & other search engines, but I have definitely found this to be very true in the field of medical research. A lot of the research that I do is hunting out the medical developments & discoveries that haven't 'hit the press' yet. Much of it never will as it relates to obscure or poorly known conditions no one ever hears about until it strikes someone you know. & often much of this research will never reach your GP. The sheer bulk of the information they are supposed to know is staggeringly horrific. When you start researching specific conditions then the bulk of information out there about each individual condition is appalling. Most GP's are only just keeping up with the Lancet & similar major Journels in specific areas that interest them or are specifically relvant to the time or location in which they're working. When you research in this field you very quickly develop a huge respect for the people who do this job, what they achieve is tremendous, little short of miraculous sometimes. & also a deal of fear when you become aware of just how much it simply is not possible for them to know. & the specialist is not going to see you if the GP does not spot the problem. When you factor in the responsibility that goes along with the Job... you could not pay me enough to be a GP