> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://tools.osintnewsletter.com/osint-tools/fagan-finder.md).
# Fagan Finder
Tool Description : A comprehensive search portal that brings together hundreds of search engines, specialist databases, and online resources in one place.
| **Fagan Finder** | **Quick Overview** |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| URL | |
| What it does | Provides a central hub for searching across general, specialist, international, social media, news, academic, archive and other information sources. |
| How to use it | Select a relevant search category, enter search terms and run the search through the chosen service. |
| Cost | Free, although some linked services require payment. |
| Account required | No, but some linked services may require an account. |
| Cookies | First party Google Analytics cookies and third party Google advertising cookies for website analytics and advertising related functions. |
| Ownership | Created and operated by Michael Fagan, based in Canada. |
| Use in Reporting | Useful for source discovery, investigative pivots, international searching and identifying specialist databases or sources for further verification. |
### What does Fagan Finder do?
Fagan Finder is a collection of search and research tools designed to help find information online. Rather than functioning as one search engine, it acts as a directory and gateway to a large range of search services.
It covers general search engines as well as social media, news, government information, academic research, books, documents, data, libraries, archives, images, video, podcasts and other specialist resources. It also includes resources in multiple languages and countries.
**The lowdown:** The site is specifically designed to help find information that may be difficult to locate through Google alone e.g. info held in specialist databases, behind alternative search interfaces or outside the main search engine index.
### How to Use:
**1. Start by selecting the relevant area of research, such as Information Search, Image Search, Video Search, Listen Search or Group Search.**
**2. Choose an appropriate search engine, database or specialist service and enter the relevant keywords, names, usernames, organisations or phrases.**
**3. Compare and pivot between relevant services, then follow promising results back to the original source for verification and reporting.**
### Cost
* [x] Free
* [ ] Partially Free
* [ ] Paid
The site itself is free but some linked services require payment.
## Data Processing
### Account Required:
* [ ] Yes
* [x] No
No account is required to use Fagan Finder itself. Some linked services may require an account.
### Cookies:
The site uses first party Google Analytics cookies and third party Google advertising cookies for website analytics and advertising related functions.
**Note:** When clicking through to third-party search sites, you will need to check each for cookie use.
### Use in Reporting
Fagan Finder can be used to:
* Find relevant people, organisations, websites and documents.
* Locate specialist databases and less obvious information sources.
* Search international and non English sources.
* Identify news reports, archives, academic material and government records.
* Pivot from an initial lead into related platforms and information sources.
* Locate original sources for verification and evidential reporting.
The platform is widely included in OSINT, cybersecurity and investigative research guides as a search aggregation and source discovery tool.
| **Capabilities** | **Limitations** |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Provides access to a very broad range of search engines and specialist resources. | Does not independently verify the information returned by linked services. |
| Covers social media, news, academic, government, archive, image, video and data sources. | Availability and functionality depend on third party services. |
| Strong international and multilingual coverage. | Some resources require accounts, subscriptions or institutional access. |
| Helps identify information that may not appear prominently in conventional search engines. | Some listed tools and information pages may become outdated or unavailable. |
| Supports effective investigative pivots and source discovery. | Different services have different search methodologies, privacy policies and data coverage. |
| Provides guidance explaining how different search tools work. |
|
### Summary
Fagan Finder is a search and source discovery hub rather than a conventional search engine with its main value in the breadth of resources it brings together.
It fits best into the discovery and collection stages of the OSINT workflow, with particular value during pivoting. A user can start with a name, organisation, topic, image or keyword, identify relevant specialist resources, and then move between them to expand the investigation.
### Ownership
Owned and managed by its creator, [Michael Fagan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mfagan/), based in Canada.
### Ethical Considerations
• Use information only for legitimate and lawful investigative purposes.
• Treat search results as leads rather than verified facts.
• Verify significant claims using the original source and, where possible, independent sources.
• Consider the privacy implications of searching for or reporting information about individuals.
• Be aware that linked services may collect search data, IP addresses or other information under their own policies.
• Take additional care when accessing sensitive, restricted or dark web resources. Fagan Finder itself warns that dark web content can include illegal and illicit material.
• Minimise the collection and retention of unnecessary personal information.
### Related Tools:
* [100 Search Engines](/osint-tools/100-search-engines.md)
* Google Search
* Bing
* [DuckDuckGo](/osint-tools/duckduckgo.md)
* [Social Searcher ](/osint-tools/social-searcher.md)
* [Wayback Machine](/osint-tools/wayback-machine.md)
#### Sources