A method and system for access to information using search engines is provided. A search engine is selected for executing a query based on search engine characteristic information and the query. The characteristic information for each search engine includes information representing searching capabilities of each search engine. Selecting a search engine further involves determining a similarity between the query and the characteristic information for each search engine, and selecting a search engine based on the similarities such that a search engine with the highest similarity may be selected for executing the query and returning search results.