Using Search Engines

Apr. 28, 2003

Last week we spoke of finding information on specific merchandise. Now, let's broaden our focus and learn how to find information on just about anything using the Internet. 

There are several ways to go about this, all of which involve a search engine of some kind. There are many different search engines. Most are focused on finding words that match what you type in. These include Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Lycos. There are other types that focus more on a question format such as Ask Jeeves. Many of these search engines will actually search other search engines. 

There are some things that you need to know to use search engines effectively. Wording is important! Most will ignore words such as the, is, an, a, are, on, in, etc. You can also specify grouping of words by putting them in quotes, like this "search engines". Each search engine has it's own set of rules that it uses so take time to read how the search engine works. It will only help improve your searching power!