Make Effective Use of Search Engines to Find Information
Mixed Emotions

Searching for information on the WWW can evoke mixed emotions. Delight when you have quickly found exactly what you want, or frustration when you have wasted time scouring through endless lists of irrelevant search results. In particular, new users to the Internet can become very disillusioned and annoyed as the information they seek eludes them, and all the blame is placed on the search directories or engines.

Finding what you want on the Internet is akin to learning your way around a library or an encyclopaedia. It takes practice, intelligence, and, in some cases, ingenuity, to find the right path that will lead you to the gem of information you want. This article will cover in outline some of the search facilities, tools, and techniques, that are available to help uncover the rich seams of quality information that is on the WWW.


Search Directories and Search Engines

There are two main approaches to finding information on the WWW: by Directory or Search Engine. Which one you choose depends on whether you are trying to amass knowledge on a fairly broad subject, or you have a specific objective in mind.

Both types of search web sites usually have a country-specific version. Therefore, if you are looking for results predominantly of relevance to the UK, it is worth going to the ".co.uk" rather than the ".com" web site - the search results can be quite different between the two. Some search sites also have a "UK sites"-only button, which can further filter the web site match results.