The Internet contains billions of pages of data, images, sounds, and other information. Theoretically you should be able to find just about anything you need. Practically speaking, however, it's not so easy.

In some respects, the Internet is like a huge library, but in this library all the material is in one gargantuan pile on the floor. To pick out precisely what you're looking for requires the right tools for the job, as well as some skill in using search words and syntax. Otherwise you'll be deluged by thousands of irrelevant results, or left high and dry with too few results.

Once you have your search results, your job is not yet done. You still need to determine which hits originate from the most reliable sources, and which are apt to be the most useful. Because anyone can publish a website, and because there are few laws or regulations governing the accuracy of information on the Internet, there is much misinformation that can lead you astray.

This Internet Guide will help you make the most of your searches. You'll find tips for:

• Using the best search technology for your purpose
• Wording your search terms for maximum power in targeting your results
• Using tools to make Internet searching more convenient, as well as to save and organize the results of your searches.
• Evaluating the reliability or authenticity of information on the Internet
• Maintaining privacy and security on the Internet. Without adequate protection, your computer is vulnerable to data pirates and to viruses.

• Search Engines (e.g., Google):
  When you know quite specifically what you're looking for
• Subject directories (e.g., Yahoo! Directory):
  When you have a general idea of the subject matter
• Databases (e.g., Refdesk):
  When you seek information within a specialized topic or domain

You will see that these search technologies and tools are not mutually exclusive. Some search engines include directory and database information, and some database websites have links to search engines.

Search Engines

Search engines work by scanning the Internet for web pages that match your search terms. Experts estimate that at best, any given search engine covers no more than two thirds of the information available on a given topic.

Each major search engine uses a slightly different formula for scanning websites. Therefore, although different search engines produce many results that are similar to one another, they won't be exactly the same. Especially when you don't get enough good-quality hits, it pays to search on more than one search engine.

Which is the best search engine? It depends on what kind of information you're looking for.

For General Information:

Any of the following search engines will do a good job of finding a large number of popular results. They have all been refined and updated in the past year, and use cutting-edge technology.

• Google
• Yahoo
• MSN Search

Each of the above allows you to set preferences for current and future use, such as how many hits you want displayed per page, whether you want a new browser window opened each time you click on a link, and whether you want to filter out certain types of web pages or foreign-language sites.

To access these preferences, click on the underlined link that says "Preferences" or "Settings" next to the search box.

Google recently introduced a "personalized web search" that gives you customized results based on a profile of interests that you fill out. For example, if you list one of your interests as recreation, then next time you enter the search term, "bass" you'll get hits pertaining to fish rather than to music.

Other search engines that are not so well known include:

• Ask Jeeves
• Teoma
• Lycos
• AltaVista
• Alltheweb
• Looksmart
• Netscape search

AskJeeves, Teoma and Lycos are all run by the same technology. Thus, your search results will be similar among these search engines. AlltheWeb and AltaVista are now owned by Yahoo! and Netscape is owned by AOL.

In addition to regular search engines, there are also metasearch engines. These scan multiple search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo, AskJeeves) simultaneously. Since no single search engine finds the everything related to your search, using a metasearch engine increases the potential number of accurate hits in your results. It is estimated that you triple your chances of getting accurate hits when you search on multiple search engines.

The most highly rated metasearch engines include:

• Vivisimo
• Dogpile
• Webcrawler
• Ixquick

Here are some more metasearch engines:

• ProFusion
• Turbo10
• Surfwax
• Metor
• Search.com
• Queryserver

Most metasearch engines aggregate results from the individual search engines, so as to avoid duplicate hits. Some (e.g. Dogpile) allow you to set preferences for aggregated or sequential results.

Most search engines now have paid listings, which usually appear at the top or along the side of the page of search results. These may not be the most relevant to your search. Paid listings are marked, albeit not noticeably. Look for areas marked "sponsored" or "featured." They're often set within a pale pastel background.

Refine your search

Most of the major search and metasearch engines have extra options to refine your search. Thus if you're looking for news stories, pictures, audio files, etc., click on the tabs or categories in the vicinity of the search box to select these options.

Additional options are available in the "back door" of some search engines:

• Google has links to two dozen shortcuts. From the main window, click on "More" above the search box, which takes you to this page. There you'll find links to catalogs, directories, news sources, scholarly articles, online groups, PDA tools and more.


• Yahoo! has a page full of shortcuts to information that you can use on a regular basis, including gas prices, traffic and weather reports, maps, calculators and converters, news, stock quotes, sports scores and more.


• MSN search offers its extra options via a dropdown window. Click on the window next to the search box.
  
• AskJeeves has a "smart search" section which includes options to search for movies, famous people, products, maps and measurement conversions. It also has a spell check to help you check the spelling of words in your search terms.

Another way to refine your search is to use the "Advanced" mode of search engines, which is usually accessed via a link next to the search box. In Google, for example, you can limit your search to specific phrases or date ranges, to specific file formats or web domains. You can search only websites where your key word appears in the title or the URL. There are also options to search only within U.S. Government sites, or within Microsoft, Apple or Unix.

Other search engines have similar options for refining your search. If you get too many hits in your search results, the Advanced mode can help you narrow your search, so that you get a more managable list of results.

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