Search Engines (Finding Things)

There's so much stuff on the Web -- how do I find what I'm looking for?

Hop on a search engine. It's easy. A search engine is a Web site that asks you what you're looking for and then points you to other sites that may interest you. In most cases, you'll get a list of Web pages containing a glimpse of what you'll find at each one. When you find one that looks promising you just click on the title, and off you go. Of course, you may find once you arrive at the site that it isn't what you were looking for. In that case you can either go back to the search engine and try again or scan the site for links to even more promising Web pages.

How do I decide which search engine to use?

Trial and error. We've assembled a short list of search engines arranged in three basic catagories. Try one out and see what you think.

General Search Engines
Each of these search engines asks you to type in words that'll help them find Web pages that interest you. Some have larger databases and use more advanced searching techniques than others.

Subject Catalogs
Unlike the general search engines, subject catalogs are arranged by -- surprise -- subject. They're a bit like the index of an encyclopedia. You look up one subject and underneath it is a list of subtopics. Turn to one of the subtopics and you might then find a list of what could be called sub-subtopics. And so on and so on. You keep following the trail until you find what you're looking for. Some catalogs also let you conduct standard keyword searches.

All-in-One Tools
Don't feel like slogging through all those search engines just to find the Web page of your dreams? Try one-stop-shopping at one of these sites.

Where can I learn how to use search engines?

Every search engine includes tips and options that'll help you make sure you don't receive a list of 100,000 Web sites every time you look for something. There are some tricks of the trade that you should learn to help narrow your search but every search engine uses different techniques. If you want to find out how a certain search engine works, either visit that search engine's home page or stop by a Web site that specializes in search engine information. A good place to start is the Matrix of Internet Indices. It contains reviews of most of the major search engines and may help you decide which one is for you.

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