2torial #0623:
Learn2 Search the Internet Effectively

Ladies and gentlemen, start your search engines!

For anyone doing research--students, journalists, consumers--the Internet seems to provide unlimited information. Unfortunately, if you're not familiar with how online search engines work, their results often seem to require additional sifting. We'll help you refine your Internet research skills so you can get where you want to be fast. You may even end up feeling like you have the world (or at least the World Wide Web) on a string.

Research, especially on the Internet, presents a chicken-and-egg kind of challenge: You can't find what you're looking for until you refine what you're looking for. But how do you refine it if you don't know much about it? Fortunately, the process tends to sort itself out--you begin with a general topic or question, and as you learn more, you look for more details. Hold onto your index cards--we'll get you through the entire procedure.

Note: This 2torial explains basic search terms and procedures, but not how to judge what you find.