Others have reported using outside engines such as google successfully. I haven't had much luck with that myself because I find the amount of results generated to be overwhelming. Instead, I persisted in trying to learn to use the FT feature. With a bit of trial and error, I have become more or less proficient with it. I believe this was time well spent because it has enabled me to access the entire wealth of information stored on FT ... without ever having to wait for anyone else to retrieve it for me.