How to Find Things -- Searching the Internet

The Internet is vast almost beyond description with hundreds of millions of users and many millions of web sites. How, then, do you find someting? Where to start? Searching the Internet is the basic technique that opens the invaluable storehouse of information.

There are two basic ways to proceed when you want to find something on the Internet:

1. Portals/Directories: Organized lists of Internet resources arranged to make it easy for you. This is like the telephone book "Yellow Pages" idea.
   
   
2. Search engines: An Internet based service that allows you to search their huge index. You enter one or more words indicating what you are looking for and they show you a list of web sites that match. Google or Altavista are examples of search engines. For a fine piece of writing about the leading search engine, read The Age of Google, by John Derbyshire.

There is a great deal more to be said, and many things on the Internet that will be hard to find in either of the above categories (the "invisible web"). The rest of this page will guide you to websites that explain the techniques of searching in more depth and detail. Keep in mind that searching is part art and part science. You have to know at least the basics of the science: how to use a search engine, for example. But then there is the art -- choosing good search words and varying them to improve your results. The latter takes practice and patience like learning any other complex subject. The more time you invest, the better you will be able to get the results you want.

Internet Search Resources

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial. Guide from UC-Berkeley with everything you need to know, plus a glossary of web/Internet terminology. Searching the Internet: Recommended Sites and Search Techniques is a similar tutorial from SUNY Albany (NY) Library. If those seem too complex, here is an attempt to simplify the topic, BARE BONES 101: A Very Basic Web Search Tutorial from U. South Carolina Library.

Kid's Search Tools is a specialized website oriented to young Internet users. The tools are limited so parents can exercise some control over the things the kids may find (ie, no porn or other objectionable content). They also provide access to basic library and language tools such as dictionary, encyclopedia, and thesaurus.

Search Engine Watch is a website that keeps track of the search engine industry. Some of their material is for webmasters who are trying to get their sites noticed by search engines, but they also offer advice to the search-worn with topics like Web Searching Tips and Search Engine Listings.