A search engine is a powerful tool to locate information based on user input. Try the same search in several search engines and compare your results.
A meta search engine searches multiple search engines from a single search page.
When metasearching, be aware that a metasearch is executed without taking advantage of specific designs and features of the individual search tools. The key to using metasearchers is finding the ones that eliminate duplicates and display in order of relevance rather than by specific search tools.
Note: Keep in mind many of the scholarly articles indexed in library databases are not available for free online.