Buffalo & Erie County Public Library: Computer Training Programs

The easiest way to find a Web page without using a search engine is to guess the URL. Become familiar with the major domain identifiers such as .com, .gov, and country codes. Organizations will try to register memorable or easy to find addresses, so try a few possible combinations of name and domain identifiers.
Shorten the URL. You might get to a page with an index to what else is listed on the site.
To find the information you are looking for on a Web page, use Internet Explorer's Edit - Find on this Page command .
Identify exactly what it is that you're looking for. Try to picture the "perfect" web site, what it would contain, and formulate your search based on that criteria.
Try a broad search first to get an idea of the volume of information on your topic. Then, use the advanced search options to narrowly focus the search, removing items one-by-one as needed on subsequent searches, depending on results.

Advanced suggestions

Plan your strategy before picking your search engine. Decide which features would be helpful such as Boolean logic, parenthesis, truncation, proximity, phrases, etc. Find out which engines provide the features you need.
Some search engines evaluate your search from left to right. But others have a hierarchy of operations where some operators are considered more important than others. Usually "and" is given a higher rank than "or". To solve this problem, you may want to use parentheses. This is a simple way to ensure the search engines evaluate your search from left to right.
Use the AND operator to link search terms. Proper left to right evaluation of the query is ensured.
Combine keywords into phrases when possible.
Truncate words to pick up singular and plural versions. Think about the roots of the words you're searching for.
Use nouns and objects as keywords. Verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions are either thrown away by search engines or can be described in many different ways. Avoid common words.
Put the main subject first. Some search engines give more weight to the words you list first.
Use synonyms or alternate words that say the same thing. Do not use too many of them or your other concepts may receive too little attention. Use the OR operator; this will cover the likely different ways a concept is described.
Use 6 to 8 keywords in a search. More keywords can reduce the number of documents returned by 99%.
If you do not get good results, try rearranging the order of words.
Use Metasearch tools. They increase Web coverage by 3 to 4 fold.

Check out About.com Web Search for searching tutorials, online help files, and search engine finding aids.

Test your skills with the Internet III Exercise!

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