SEARCHING ON THE INTERNET You will be searching on the Internet a great deal. Learn how to make the most of your online experience.

Why go on the Internet? Just for fun to pass the time. Look for something specific. Research and learn something. Play a game Chat with other people Sign up for programs Buy and Sell products There are many, many reasons.

So what is the Internet? The Internet works through The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software. The Internet works through telephone wires, satellite links and broadband connections.

How BIG is the Internet anyway? ACCORDING TO about.com as of January 2007, 922 million to 1032 million individuals used the Internet in 2006, all countries combined. 202 million American residents used the Internet in 2006.

What's Good About The Internet? The Internet provides information faster, easier and more efficiently than books and libraries. There are millions of Websites and WebPages to provide you with lots of information. Anyone can Publish a Website so the Internet is open to everyone. The Internet has many search engines that can help you narrow down your search.

What’s Bad About the Internet? Anyone can Publish A Website.- and NO ONE checks the information for truth. A Website contains many WebPages that link from one page to another that can get you off track. There are millions of websites to look on that can overwhelm you with information.

Web Directory vs. Search Engines A web directory specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. You might use a web directory just to “browse the Internet”. A web directory will categorize and subcategorize its links. Click to go to Google’s Web Directory and Yahoo’s Web Directory

A Search Engine A Search Engine is a program that searches documents for keywords and returns a list of those documents where the keywords were found. A Search Engine works by sending out a spider (a program that finds WebPages and brings them back to the search engine).

Searching Searching on the Internet is similar to going to the card catalog at the library with a specific topic in mind. You decide to look for your resources by topic, author or keyword. You look for those words and get a listing of all the books in the library that match. With a "search engine" you type in specific words and the engine searches its databases of hundreds of millions of websites, and displays a list of the websites it found that contain those keywords. 

Searching Here is a list of very popular Search Engines. AltaVista this engine calls itself the most powerful one on the internet. HotBot really narrows your topic Yahooligans – allows you to locate internet sites made for kids. All The Web- made to search all the Internet. And of course, Yahoo and Google.

Regular Search Engines vs. Meta Search Engines A regular search engine searches the Internet based on a given keyword. Yahoo, Google, All the Web, and AltaVista and Ask, are very popular search engines. A Metasearch Engine searches other search engines and then combines the results. Dog pile, Metacrawler, Mamma, and ix quick are top Metasearch engines.

Regular vs. Meta Search Engines Test it! See how many HITS you get! Search for information using a regular search engine and then a try using a metasearch engine. Pay attention to how the different search engines work and the results it brings you. Write types of dogs into the search bar. Regular Search Engines: Yahoo, Google, All the Web, AltaVista , Ask Metasearch Engines: Dog pile,, Metacrawler, and Mamma, ix quick ,

SEE THE DIFFERENCE? A regular search engine will bring back many, many results because they bring back multiple pages of the same site. Since a metasearch engine searches other search engines, the results are much smaller in number.

Search engines may work differently With some you can be Specific and even ask a question. For Example: How many purebred dogs have long hair?. With other Search Engines it is best to use Key Words- Purebred longhaired dogs

Regular vs. Advanced Searching What is the difference? Regular searching is typing in keywords and allowing the search engine to come back with many hits. Advanced Searching allows you to be more specific and lets the search engine come back with more specific results.

Advanced Searching There are different ways to complete an advanced search. One way is to use the Advanced Search Option. Most search engines offer this feature. Go to Google and click on the Advanced Search. Fill in the template to narrow down your search. For Example: Purebred White haired dogs.

Advanced Searching Another way is to use Symbols. Use The + Symbol to Add dogs +purebreds Use The - Symbol to Subtract purebreds –longhair Use “Quotation Marks” for a phrase. “purebred longhaired dogs" You can even combine symbols “purebred dogs”–longhaired +white

Which uses words to refine a search. Advanced Searching Or You can use Boolean Searching Which uses words to refine a search. AND – when you want to find two words together. Dogs AND Purebred OR – when you will accept either one. Dogs OR purebreds NOT- when you want one but not the other. Dogs NOT Purebreds

SEARCHING! No matter what method you choose to do your searching in, it is finding what you are looking for that is important. If you never find what you are searching for, you are WASTING YOUR TIME!!!!

Tips for Searching Try to be specific in your search query. Pick out the important key words. Use up to three search engines where you think you will find the best information. (One being a Meta Search Engine. Analyze your results. Did you find the information you were searching for? Do you need to change your search query? Should you try a different search engine?

When Searching… So check out the websites that you use. Don’t Forget: Anyone can post information on the Internet! There are NO guidelines, checklists, editors. So check out the websites that you use. Make sure that the information you gather is RELIABLE!!!

Be a SMART SEARCHER ON LINE Summing Up!! Be a SMART SEARCHER ON LINE Learn how to Search more efficiently. Refine your search with advanced search options. Choose reliable, easy to navigate search engines. AND ALWAYS STAY SAFE ONLINE!