Finding It!

There is a ton of information floating out there on the Internet, but getting a hold of it can be tricky, especially if you are not exactly sure where to start.

1) Defining Your Search:

	Select your topic (try to be as specific as possible).   Decide on the type of information that you want to search for: fact, definition, organization, person…   Make a list of “keywords” to be used in your search; “keywords” are words that either describe your topic or that are representative of your topic in some way.

2) Knowing Your Engines:

There are two main ways to find information on the Internet: Search Engines and Subject Directories.

1. Search Engines: Search engines are great if you have a unique keyword, phrase, question or quote that can be found within the text of a website. Search engines scan websites for your keyword or phrase. This can often result in too many pages that are not related to what you are looking for. In order to get better results, become familiar with the search language (“+”, “- ”, AND, OR, NOT)
   
   Examples: Google, MSN, Yahoo, Alta Vista, Excite, and Webcrawler.
    
2. Refining Your Search:
   
   After you have done your keyword search, you may find that the information found is not exactly what you wanted. To make your search more specific, take a look at this chart for helpful pointers:

   	AND Finds documents with all the words. Football AND game finds sites with both the word football and the word game. OR Finds documents with at least one of the words. Football OR game will find sites with the words football or game, but not necessarily both. NOT Excludes the word. Football NOT game finds sites with football but not game. + Same as AND - Same as NOT “ ” Finds all words, in order. “Winners of last night’s football game” will find all sites with this entire phrase.

   Not all engines and directories use this particular method. When in doubt, check the Help, How to Search, or Search Tips section for more information on how to refine your search.

3. Beyond Basic Searches:
   
   If the search engines and the subject directories are not giving you the kind of results that you had hoped for, here are some other suggestions that can all be found online:
   • Dictionaries
   • Journal Databases
   • Thesauri
   • Libraries
   • Encyclopedias
   • Newspapers/ Magazines
   • Reference Sections of Subject Directories