How to Search the Internet

Check with an adult before you start searching the Internet. To ensure your safety, some schools and families have rules about what you can do on the Internet and the kinds of sites you can visit. In some cases, you will find "filtering" software that restricts your access. If you are wondering why adults want to limit your online activities, you may want to visit a site called Safeties and Dangers of the Web: Don't Let the Web Catch You http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/5210/?tqskip=1. You can also take a test and get an Internet Driver's License at a site called Safe Surfin' http://www.safesurfin.com/kids.htm.

If you are able to search the Web freely, the first step is to choose a search engine and get to know how it works. Some good choices would be:

Google http://www.google.com
Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com
Yahooligans! http://www.yahooligans.com
WebCrawler http://www.webcrawler.com
HotBot http://hotbot.com
AltaVista http://www.altavista.com
Lycos http://www.lycos.com
Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com

Dogpile is a "meta search engine." It sends your query to many search engines and can be useful if you are not finding the information you need.

Searching Tips

Before you start searching, think carefully about what you're looking for. You may want to consult an encyclopedia or another reference book to get ideas.

Let's say you want to find sites about polar bears.

If you simply enter in the keyword bears, you will get thousands of results or hits. It is important to enter in specific keywords.

When you enter in "polar bears" you will limit the search to the specific bears you're interested in. Some search engines require the keywords to be enclosed in quotation marks. This tells the search engine that you are performing a phrase search.

Another searching tip, is to use the (+) and (-) sign. If you're looking for polar bears in Alaska, you can tell the search engine that by using the plus sign. Simply enter in the keywords "polar bears" + Alaska. If you are also interested in the what polar bears in Alaska eat, you can enter the keywords "polar bear"+Alaska+diet.

All search engines utilize different search commands. InFoPeople provide a guide to how different search engines work. Please visit their Web site at http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html to learn how different search engines function.

• Put phrases in quotes.
• If you want to add a term use a plus sign.
• If you want to exclude a term use a minus sign.

For example, if you wanted to find sites about killer whales in the Antarctic, you would want to limit that search.

If you key in +"killer whales" +Antarctic, you'll probably get about 1,000 sites.

But if you exclude sites about arctic killer whales, the number will decrease. Key in +"killer whales" +Antarctic -arctic and you'll get about 600 sites.

Six hundred sites is still a lot to look through, and that's why it's good to be as specific as possible and to think in advance of ways to make your search efficient.

Ask your teacher or librarian if there are good sites already bookmarked for your research.