The Internet has an extraordinary amount of information. Often the most difficult and frustrating part of using the Web is finding and extracting the "right" content. The following highlights the methods that work best to locate information online. Some are very basic and will produce limited results. Others are more extensive and will yield more comprehensive findings.

Go Directly to a Web site5

Every page on the Internet has a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address. If you know the URL of a page you want to view, type it in your Web browser. Then click "Go" or "Enter." Your computer's browser will go to this address, retrieve the Web page from the host computer, and display the page on your monitor.

Browse6

Type key words into your Web browser. It will return a list of identified Web home pages that include those words. This is a very general method of searching and frequently serves as a starting place.

Explore with Subject Directories7

A subject directory allows you to choose relevant sites through a list of subject categories. In most cases, subject directories offer users a broad list of topics such as sports, entertainment or education to explore. Directories range from very general to topic-specific. Sites are examined and categorized based on their content by a human editor. Typically, directories are easy to use and serve as a good way to begin searching the Internet. However, be aware that they have relatively small databases and may not include all available documents. The following are just a few examples of the many subject directories available.

Use Search Engines8

A search engine is a program which looks for key words in documents and returns a list of links containing those words. They typically work by sending out "crawlers" or "spiders" into cyberspace to visit a Web site, read the site's information, and then return the findings to a central database for indexing. Spiders also revisit sites regularly to look for content changes. Other search engines rely on humans to gather information or use a combination of these data gathering techniques.

When your computer queries a search engine it is actually accessing a giant database, not searching the entire Web itself. Because each search engine has its own style, technology, update schedule, and database, it is important to use more than one search engine when conducting research.

Also keep in mind that spiders are indiscriminate. Some resources found by a search engine may be out of date, inaccurate, or incomplete. Many times, however, information accessed by search engines will be reliable and valuable. When conducting an Internet search, be sure to evaluate all your results carefully. (See "How Can I Evaluate Information I Find on the Internet?" for tips on how to evaluate Web information.)

Some 87% of search engine users say they find the information they want most of the time when they use search engines.9

Regular Search Engines Versus Metasearch Engines

There are two types of search engines - regular and metasearch. Metasearch engines do not crawl the Web to build databases like regular search engines. Instead, they query many search engines and blend the results. In other words, they use a combination of search engines and merge the findings onto one page for viewers. This list highlights some of the search engines available.

Regular Search Engines

Metasearch Engines

Search the "Invisible Web"

The concept of the "invisible" or "dark" Web refers to content which is stored and accessible on the Web, but not collected by a search engine's spider. In other words, the information is not indexable and cannot be retrieved by search engines. Therefore, this part of the Web is often described as invisible.

However, this information is very visible to those who know how to access it. For instance, databases ranging from academics to commercial subject areas may be hidden from search engines, but are available for viewing. Very current, dynamically changing information is often stored in these databases. This content may serve as an important resource for practitioners.

The invisible or dark Web is enormous. According to BrightPlanet Corporation, it is 500 times larger than the "surface" Web.10 To assist in searching this concealed information, there are Web sites that collect content from the invisible Web. They serve as a launching pad to this part of the Internet. The following are a few examples of these sites.

Many search providers utilize a combination of search engines, directories, and content from the invisible Web to make up their package of search services. For example, you can visit GoogleTM and look up news, maps, job listings, etc., all of which are outside the range of spider-gathered databases.

<<Previous Page OYWT Home Next Page>>
National ATTC
Back to ATTC Home