Search the Web

The World Wide Web's easy access to large informational and communication databases makes it a handy research and teaching tool. Understanding search engines, how and which search tools to use can go a long way in minimizing frustration when researching a topic.

On Search Engines Search engines are electronic reference librarians that look for files located on far-away computers and retrieve documents that most closely match the words or phrases you've indicated. A search using the same keyword(s) will yield different results since search engines have different databases of information depending on the search techniques and software tools they use to create indexes of the contents on the internet. Directories organize their websites into subject categories. Meta search engines look in multiple search engines' databases. Have a favorite search engine or directory but try others also. Search Tips Be as specific as possible. Put phrase in "..." for an exact match in most search engines. Looking for specific thing, use search engines. Not looking for specific thing, use a directory to start with general searches and move to specific. The first few results are most relevant to your search. Read search tool's description or Help tips to do more advanced searches

Very Useful Search Tools www.yahoo.com combines a comprehensive directory, a search engine and other great services.   www.metacrawler.com uses fourteen major search tools and directories simultaneously: Infoseek, Lycos, Webcrawler, Excite, Alta Vista, and Google. askjeeves.com is a popular search engine with users looking for some guidance in their search. It models how to ask a question and helps you narrow your search by giving you multiple options to choose from. www.theultimates.com uses several search engines to look up phone numbers, addresses, email, and information on businesses. groups.google.com searches Usenet newsgroups archives for posted messages. www.mapsonus.com plans a route using the shortest, fastest and favor or avoid major highways features.