Doing Research on the Web

Do you want to find information about some subject matter through the Internet, but you are really sure sure of the best way to do it? Many have the same problem. With all the millions of possible web sites, you really have to know where to look to find any useful information.

The major ways to find what you want is through using search engines and specialized sites such as encyclopedia sites and research list sites.

Questions you may have on this include:

• What are some good search engines?
• What is the best way to use them?
• What are some specialized sites for information?

This lesson will answer those questions and explain ways to do research on the web.

Search engines

Both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer have Search buttons that will take you to their default search engine. If you are using America Online, their search engine may be your default. There are numerous other search engines, as well as meta-search engines that combine the results of several search engines.

Popular search engines

Some popular search engines to use are as follows, listed in alphabetical order:

Alta Vista www.altavista.com – Has the largest database. Good for word-searches.

Excite www.excite.com – Ranked as one of the top search sites.

Hotbot www.hotbot.com – An up-and-comer.

Infoseek www.infoseek.com – Useful for some items.

Lycos www.lycos.com – Ranked near the top.

Yahoo www.yahoo.com – One of more popular. Classifies list. Not as extensive as others.

(See List Search Engines Sites for a more extensive list of these tools.)

Meta-search engines

These sites gather information from other search engines to provide an overall view of the specific information.

Dogpile www.dogpile.com

Mamma www.mamma.com

Metacrawler www.metacrawler.com

Savvy Search www.savvysearch.com

How to use search engines

The big trick is to use these search engines in order to find what you want. Often, if you type in a word or a phrase, your will find thousands if not millions of sites related to your search. Most of these are commercial sites with not applicable information.

Most search engines have their own rules for selective searching, as well as helpful hints in using them. Some tips on searching are:

• Try changing the order of the words you are using.
• Put phrases in quotation marks.
• Use AND, OR and NOT to include or exclude words in your search.
• Many engines use “+” to mean the word must be included and “-” to not include the word. For example, a search for “large + dogs – St. Bernard” would list sites with information on large dogs, not including the St. Bernard. But you still may get some surprises.

Specialized sites

There are many sites that specialize in certain types of information. There are also some encyclopedia sites that can give you general information on topics.

Encyclopedias

Some free encyclopedia sites include:

Microsoft Encarta www.encarta.msn.com – A brief online version of Encarta.

www.britannica.com – Top site from Encyclopedia Britannica

Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia www.encyclopedia.com

Info Please www.infoplease.com

Biographies

Biographical information is available on:

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

Biography.com www.biography.com – Good short bios on many people.

Biographical Dictionary www.s9.com/biography/

How-to and about

Sites explaining about subjects or how to do things include:

About.com www.about.com – Explains about subjects.

Learn2 www.learn2.com – Shows how to do things.

Almanacs

Information Please Almanac www.infoplease.com

Political Reference Almanac www.polisci.com/almanac/almanac.htm

In conclusion

Use these search and reference sites to find your information. If you have other suggested sites, let me know about them.

The person who can find information has access to knowledge.

What do you think?

Feel free to establish a link from your web site to pages in this site.