You can find nearly anything on the internet. However, it can be difficult to find the exact information you need if you do not know how to navigate the information superhighway. There are a wide variety of tricks or techniques you can use to find the information you need.
Search Engines
Search engines are common tools that are used to find information online. They provide an interface where you can enter your search terms. The underlying engine, sometimes referred to as a spider, continually "crawls" the Internet looking for new material to categorize automatically. Different types of search engines are available depending on your needs. Global engines, such as Google, organize pages from around the world. If you need information that is specific to a certain region, like Australia or Asia, you can find a regional search engine to narrow down that information. Targeted search engines focus their information on a specific topic, such as medicine or art, and reference engines provide information from an encyclopedia such as Britannica. Using engines specific to the topics you are looking for will help you narrow down your choices.
Directories
In contrast to search engines, directories are organized and maintained by humans instead of automated spiders. These typically return a smaller number of results, but the items are more likely to be of high quality since they are hand-picked. Examples of a directory include Yahoo and Snap.
Search Methods
What tools to use depend on the kind of information you need. If you are looking for general information about a broad subject, such as a country or earthquakes, you should start with a reference site. If you need information about a a general subject, such as business or medicine, then a targeted search engine is your best bet. When looking for specific information on a popular subject, such as art museums or vacations spots, you should use a directory. A combination of several search engine types will yield a great deal of information.
Tips
There are certain tricks that you can use to help narrow down your options when performing a search. You can start by entering keywords related to your topic. This instructs the engine to find those words in any sites it can find. Search engines typically allow you to request a particular phrase and the engine will only return pages with that particular phrase, in the same word order. If you want to find a specific combination of words you can use boolean operators. These allow you to use instructions such as "And," "Not," "Or" and "Near" to narrow the results of your search.
Search Engines
Search engines are common tools that are used to find information online. They provide an interface where you can enter your search terms. The underlying engine, sometimes referred to as a spider, continually "crawls" the Internet looking for new material to categorize automatically. Different types of search engines are available depending on your needs. Global engines, such as Google, organize pages from around the world. If you need information that is specific to a certain region, like Australia or Asia, you can find a regional search engine to narrow down that information. Targeted search engines focus their information on a specific topic, such as medicine or art, and reference engines provide information from an encyclopedia such as Britannica. Using engines specific to the topics you are looking for will help you narrow down your choices.
Directories
In contrast to search engines, directories are organized and maintained by humans instead of automated spiders. These typically return a smaller number of results, but the items are more likely to be of high quality since they are hand-picked. Examples of a directory include Yahoo and Snap.
Search Methods
What tools to use depend on the kind of information you need. If you are looking for general information about a broad subject, such as a country or earthquakes, you should start with a reference site. If you need information about a a general subject, such as business or medicine, then a targeted search engine is your best bet. When looking for specific information on a popular subject, such as art museums or vacations spots, you should use a directory. A combination of several search engine types will yield a great deal of information.
Tips
There are certain tricks that you can use to help narrow down your options when performing a search. You can start by entering keywords related to your topic. This instructs the engine to find those words in any sites it can find. Search engines typically allow you to request a particular phrase and the engine will only return pages with that particular phrase, in the same word order. If you want to find a specific combination of words you can use boolean operators. These allow you to use instructions such as "And," "Not," "Or" and "Near" to narrow the results of your search.