Searhing the Internet

Okay, let's face it, who hasn't typed something into a search engine and received results that were completely off track? Believe it or not there is a science to using a search engine - they can't read minds, you must know how to work with them. These links should help.

General Resources

Some helpful hints...

  • If you are looking for information about a broad topic (like Women's Suffrage, the Civil War or World War II) and hope to narrow your search as you go, you may best be served by a web directory. Web Directories are tools that arrange sites and other information by subject, they will usually provide you with sub-categories and topics
    • Yahoo.com is my personal favorite but there are many others.
  • If you already have specific item in mind (for example, Ida B. Wells, The Declaration of Sentiments or the electoral college), a search engine may be your best bet. Search Engines help one to locate information by creating catalogues of websites>
  • If you are trying to search a broad topic, and would like to search through many search engines' results at the same time, Meta Search Engines are the most useful and efficient tool.
  • There are some search engines that specialize in certain kinds of information, as a social studies teacher I like this one...
    • govspot.com - a non-partisan search portal for government information